Alias of Chaos
by SilverLily aka Blood Moon
Summary: Voldemort summoned a power the likes of which he could not control. The pharaoh and his light, now trapped in another world, struggle to hide their powers. Shounen-ai
1. Blood and Beginnings

****

Alias of Chaos 

Oh, my, Goddess. I seem to have jumped on the bandwagon as well. I'll tell you this now, this is a Yugioh/Harry Potter crossover. And, there is also a shounen-ai(slash) alert in future chapters. Probably not with any of the Harry Potter cast. We'll have to see. 

Enjoy, my kiddies… Mwahahaha…..

~ * ~

Wormtail quavered as he brought over the Mason jar containing a mass of internal flesh and muscle. It was warm in his hand, still beating with a dying life through the thick glass. 

"Wormtail, bring me the dragon's heart. We have much to do before the ritual is ready." The voice of his master hissed harshly in his ears. Wormtail shuttered yet again, remembering back to when He Who Must Not Be Named slew the graceful and terrible beast. Glimmering red it had been, with shimmering jaws the likes of which neither had ever seen. His master had said that it was the perfect one. Only the best and the rarest could be accepted to summon what his master was calling '_the ultimate vehicle of power and destruction_.' 

The man set down the glass jar on a tree stump behind the Dark Lord and went back to where the last of their ingredients was still waiting. 

Everything had to be just right to perform this ritual. The person daring the summon had to be strong willed, almost as invincible as that of which they were summoning, and have such powers too powerful to be spoken of. 

He Who Must Not Be Named. You Know Who. The Dark Lord. 

If his powers weren't strong enough to summon this awesome creature, then nothing on the earth could. Only Voldemort himself had the power to call upon it. The Wielder of Chaos. The Prince of the Darkness. The Spirit of the Shadows. Midnight's favored son. 

__

And I'm the only one that will be able to control it. 

"Wormtail, quickly now, the girl. Bring her here." The Dark Lord finished arranging the runes in a triangle, lining them up perfectly with the purple colored candles and the dragon heart in the center. 

The girl that Wormtail brought up with his new hand, a gift from his master, was very small, even for her age. About eleven years, her parents had said. That was, of course, before Voldemort blew their tiny little bodies all into pieces. Her powers of being a witch had been promising, her beauty beginning to blossom as she grew in height and age. Pure golden hair fell about her blind-folded head. 

It had been forbidden that she look upon the Dark Lord. She must remain pure for the ceremony. She could not be tainted, or else she could not attract this powerful beast. 

Wormtail placed her directly in the center of the triangle, forcing her to hold the Mason jar with the dragon's heart that was somehow still beating. She whimpered slightly, afraid at what would happen to her. 

"_Now,"_ Voldemort hissed. "We begin." 

Streams of summer moonlight began to diminish as He Who Must Not Be Named began a chant in an old language, forgotten by the common man. Wormtail could not understand it. It seemed too choppy for him. Too concise. 

There was only one word that Wormtail heard the most as it echoed in the empty cemetery. 

"**_kkwy!_**" 

What did it mean? His master had not told him much. Only that they would need to be at a burial site, as this kind of creature and all others like it had a strange affinity for the dead, an infinite respect for those who have passed on. And the ritual had to be performed at night. And _only_ on a full moon. 

The dark fire emitted by the purple-hued candles began to rise, circling up around the shivering girl placed in the center. An invisible barrier seemed to have been placed outside of the triangle and the fire, the purple and crimson swirls, and the magic escaping from the stone runes, it all circled upward in a pyramid-type fashion. 

Faintly, Wormtail could hear the dragon's heart beat faster as the chanting grew louder. The Dark Lord kept his serpent like hands up, magic of crushing forces flowing around him. Laughing echoed through the still, darkening night. 

The very air felt like it was constricting Wormtail's breathing as he tried to watch his master's evil work, tension and stress and electric waves crashing into him. Closing his eyes to clear his vision, white and gold and crimson and blood flashed before his closed lids. 

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he opened his eyes once again, seeing the girl try to scream as the purple colors from the candles dug into her flesh, tore out her blind-folded eyes, traveled down her throat and forced her blood from the very pores of her flesh. The Mason jar shattered, and the still-beating heart exploded in all directions, filling the rest of the contained little word of chaos and pain. Wormtail felt as if his head were about to explode as well, the noise so loud now it was deafening, drowning out the chanting of his master. 

It was so cold… the darkness was going to close in any minute now…

Consume him soul… his mind…his flesh…

An earth shattering moment later, all was silent. And all was eerily still. 

Wormtail starred into the departing colors of purple and red, noticing with a mild shock that the young girl was gone. In her place...

Darkness. Complete and utter darkness. 

There was not much that he could see. A dark figure perhaps? Clouded in darkness and secrets and ancient pasts? 

Red eyes snapped open in the midst of the ever flowing shadows about this figure, endless pools of stark red blood. Raging and furious and insanity aglow. 

Not like his master's, whose glowing red eyes were cold and harsh and had no pupils. 

No, these eyes had pupils, dilated with rage and a calculating cruelty. 

"_Who dares to summon me,"_ a deep voice commanded. Regal, dark, smooth like honey and rum and yet so cold it could freeze moonshine. 

Voldemort laughed. It had worked! It actually worked! "Spirit of the Shadows, Chaos's favored son. Your powers have been called upon to wreak havoc upon the mortal world. Slave, thy master calls. Come to me!" 

Spirit? Wormtail looked harshly at the dark figure with the glowing bloodied eyes. This didn't look like any spirit. He looked, in fact, quite solid. 

All was silent for a moment as the dark figure stood there, starring down Voldemort with a vengeance. 

"_I will do no such thing._" 

Wormtail shivered. This could not bode good for him or his master. 

Voldemort seemed undeterred. "I am your master, I summoned you with my own blood. You will be bound to me to do my bidding. Now come!" 

The darkness growled, angered at the title he had been given. 

"_Listen well, human. I am a God. I will do as I please. And you,_" the darkness paused, bringing his lowered hands from his sides out just slightly, dark purple and crimson shadows forming in his dusky hands. "_You have tampered with a sacred balance. A balance that I will destroy the earth in order to protect._" 

This was not good. It appeared that the Dark Lord would have to get rid of this one precious tool. If he could not control it, nothing could, and would thus get in his way. He Who Must Not Be Named sneered, preparing his wand for the forbidden curse. "And what balance is that," he asked, buying himself more time. 

"_The balance of Order and Chaos._" 

"_Avada Kedavra_!" The Dark Lord cried, pointing his long wand at the Shadow's favored son. 

Wormtail watched horrified as the green hued energy bounced harmlessly off the darkness as if it had never been. 

The shadows sneered. "_And you will learn what happens when you summon what you **cannot** control. For you have just unleashed the powers of Chaos."_ The darkly glowing orbs of shadows expanded viciously, licking outward towards its prey. Wormtail could only remember hearing his master's scream, and the cold, harsh laughter of the darkness as his whole world went black. 

~ * ~ 

Professor Albus Dumbledore, Head Master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Head Mugwump of International Confederation of Wizards, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Order of Merlin First Class, and overall renowned Wizard Good Guy, stood quietly as he observed the wreckage surrounding him. 

This was a very small muggle cemetery that was about thirty miles away from Nowhere, Great Britain. The Order had called him via floo-powder about two minutes ago, telling him to apparate immediately. 

He didn't need them to tell him of this carnage, though. He felt it half-way around the world in Chile. He had hoped to get a nice summer vacation, even if he couldn't wear the favored Speedo of the native men there. A nice pair of blaze orange shorts and a canary yellow shirt had sufficed. 

He had been in the middle sipping his virgin strawberry daiquiri when he felt a sudden surge in power, the balance of good and evil suddenly thrown terribly out of whack. 

He needed to scour the area before the Ministry could get their grubby little paws on the site. With Voldemort on the loose, if the Order didn't find critical information first, it could, and most likely would for that matter, get last in the hands of Cornelius Fudge, and a devastating accident could occur, simply because the Order had not been prepared. 

So far, there was absolutely nothing. 

Well, all right. So there was a strange silvery hand that had been found, scathed and punctured and yet no blood drawn, but no bodies. No magical evidence anywhere. There was absolutely nothing that Albus Dumbledore was able to trace. 

He followed the path of destruction in the pale moonlight, wishing that there had been at least a bit of debris to follow. Everything in the area had been decimated. 

Suddenly, his sharp eyes noticed a lump of black in the very center of the non existent cemetery. 

Walking up, closer inspection revealed the pile to be, indeed, a young boy soundly asleep on the scorched black ground. Albus held up his wand. "_Lumos_." A soft light flooded his vision. 

It was the strangest thing he had ever seen. Soft, cherubic features greeted his eyes, spiked black hair tipped in a vibrant ruby. A golden crown of spiked bangs fell gracefully across peach infused cheeks, framed ebony eyes closed peacefully. The boy looked to be no older than twelve, thirteen maybe, wearing clothing strange for even the wizarding world. Midnight black leather pants and shirt, buckles strapped across his chest. Black leather wrist bands studded with silver around both wrists, and gold bands adorning his biceps and forearms. He also donned a leather collar around his neck, and a rather large trinket was faintly twinkling in the moonlight. Professor Dumbledore recognized it as a miniature of an Egyptian pyramid, the faint lines around its surface revealing it to be a three dimensional puzzle. 

What is it muggles called others like this? Goths? 

The boy was out cold. The question now though; what was he doing in the middle of one of the worst scenarios of destruction, and what was the Order going to do with him? 

~ * ~

Harry Potter had woken up quite early that morning. Of course, he'd been waking up early quite frequently these days. Now that his worst enemy had risen back to power, and now that everyone actually _knew_ about it, Voldemort had decided to have a bit of fun over the summer. 

People in the Wizard world were scared out of their mind. Harry didn't have to get the Daily Prophet or hear about it in his letters from his friends. He could _feel_ it. Every time Voldemort killed. Every time he was happy. 

Harry's lessons with Snape the previous year, though short, had done nothing to help him through this. But Dumbledore told him that as long as he remained here at his aunt and uncle's house, he would be safe. 

That is, of course, if he didn't starve fist. 

Aunt Petunia had been particularly harsh this summer. After he seemed to simply 'vanish' last summer, much to his relatives' delight, they had been particularly angry when he came back home, escorted by none other than Arthur Weasely, the man that had decimated their living room a couple of years ago. 

Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and his cousin Dudley had been nothing but pure Hell for ten weeks and counting. 

This night had been slightly different, though. He felt unbelievable amounts of pure and unsuppressed pain coursing through his system tonight. Voldemort had actually screamed in agony. 

Harry was still shaking slightly. He wondered how his scar looked right now. Did it ever glow when he felt like this? It sure felt like it did. 

He brought his hand up to his head, surprised when he saw a red liquid on his fingers when his brought it back down. 

The pain had been so horrendous, it actually made his scar bleed tonight. 

Using his pajama sleeve, he wiped the perspiration from his forehead, smearing the blood in the process. 

'_Fabulous. Wonder what Uncle Vernon will say about that. 'Trying to hurt yourself to get our attention? Well, it's not going to work boy!_'' Harry was so angry, in so much pain, and so flustered about Voldemort and what he could have possibly done tonight, he wanted to spit, scream, stomp around and maybe even destroy one of Aunt Petunia's terrible crumb cakes. 

'_Wonder when I'll be picked up this year,_' he thought idly, remember that every time he went back to Hogwarts, someone or other picked him up a month or so before school start and brought him back to the Wizarding world where he belonged. After all, he realized that years ago the Muggle world was not, by any means, his home. 

Not in the least. 

There was a crash from somewhere downstairs. The kitchen, perhaps? 

Harry suddenly became very alert. What if someone broke into the house? Maybe Voldemort had somehow found a way in? What if…

Stumbling down onto the floor, Harry reached for the loose floor board under his bed, pulled it up, and then quickly grabbed his wand. Since Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon locked away all of his Wizarding things in the summer, when he got off the train he remember to stash it under his sweater, then hide it under his bed just in case he might need it to protect himself. 

Steeling himself for what was to come, he cracked open his bedroom door, (which thankfully hadn't been locked yet) and headed downstairs. 

And it was really odd that his aunt and uncle had not yet woken up. They were still asleep? And Dudley? 

Slowly, Harry eased his way down the creaky stairs, listening intently to any noise. Sounded like chairs were being scuffled about in the kitchen. 

Easing open the kitchen door just slightly, Harry saw none other than the House Elf Dobby tripping over his guinea sack. 

"Dobby!" Harry whispered loudly. "What are you doing !?"  


The little elf whirled his too-large head around, blinking up at Harry with big watery eyes. "Harry Potter! Dobby is so glad to see you, Harry Potter! Dobby has missed you!"

Harry blinked. Not the answer he was looking for. "Dobby, what are you doing here? I could get in trouble if my aunt and uncle see you!" 

"Oh, Dobby is very sorry, Harry Potter, but Dobby has important news for you." He made one final whirl of his small body, finally freeing his meager garments from the chair. Harry noted with amusement that this time Dobby had on three pairs of socks. Two of them were miss-matched green and blue polka-dots, while the other pair had more holes than Swiss cheese. 

"News?" Harry blinked. 

The little elf nodded his head vigorously. "Professor Albus Dumbledore said to get all of Harry Potter's things together right away!" Dobby lowered his head, whispering even more quietly. "The Order must speak immediately to Harry Potter." 

Harry stood quietly for a moment, slightly taken aback. The Order needed to speak with him? Now? 

"Order members will be hear shortly to pick you up, Harry Potter. Get packing! See you at Hogwarts, yes?" 

"Ah, yes, see you at Hogwarts," Harry replied. 

With a pop Dobby was gone. 

The Order needed to speak with him now? About what? 

Probably about what happened tonight. Ask him about his scar. What else could it be? 

Harry sighed, heading back upstairs. He could at least get dressed. That way he wouldn't show up with everyone starring at him in his pajama clothes. Harry had been packed all summer, though. So there wasn't that much to do. Except maybe lock up Hedwig's cage. 

Turning around, Harry headed back upstairs, wondering if the Order was going to knock on the front door or fly in through a window. After all, last year, they appeared into his kitchen, playing with the toaster and marveling at the little wonders that muggles use on a daily basis. 

Such as, for instance, a '_fellytone_.' 

It seemed this summer was turning out to be just as mysterious as the last one. 

~ * ~


	2. Sneers and Frowns

****

Alias of Chaos 

Harry Potter blinked back tears as he starred at his Godfather's old house. He'd almost forgotten that this is where the Order was keeping their headquarters. He thought back to Sirius's death. 

Shaking his head vigorously, Harry was suddenly very angry with Professor Albus Dumbledore again. If only he had been told sooner. If only he hadn't been kept in the dark…

Perhaps now was not the time to dwell on such issues. Mad-Eye Moody, the apparently now un-retired Auror, walked briskly up to the steps, ushering Harry inside. "Big events, tonight…" he was muttering. "No one knows what happened." 

The place wasn't as dark on the inside as it had been the summer before. It seemed that the Order of the Phoenix had done some renovations on it. No more cobwebs were hanging loosely about. No more odd sprites or trixies that might pop out of a dark corner. A little less like the home it had been before…

Harry was abruptly pulled out of his brooding as someone tapped him on the shoulder. Looking up, his face paled at the sight of Professor Severus Snape at his side, the usual sneer plastered onto his face. "Potter. Long time no see." 

"Hello Professor," Harry ground out the words. Oh, but how he wanted to simply pummel the potions master at times. 

"It seems that you're quite the person to see tonight. Some events have transpired, and since your lessons with me last year went terribly wrong, you might still know what happened." 

__

Mustn't kill… Can't be like Voldemort…Mustn't kill Snape… 

Harry hated every jab that the professor sent his way. "Too bad some people can't let a grudge go, Professor. Especially if they had no control over who their parent's were." Harry got a smug pleasure at the disgusted look that crossed Severus's face. 

People were traversing about everywhere. Many people Harry had never seen before at the Order. Aurors, witches, wizards, and even some strange animals walking around. Did he just see a new house elf? It was loud. Everyone was talking. Whatever happened tonight, it _had _been big. And yet with how big it seemed to have been, no one knew what happened. 

"Harry!" 

The young wizard turned to look at the head of mouse-brown hair that came rocketing his way. "Hermione?" He asked bewildered. "What…what are you doing here?" 

Hermione wrapped him up in a hug, flushed and smiling. "I've been here for a few hours now. Dumbledore thought that I would be safer here. Voldemort seems to be up to something tonight. I might have been a target since I'm one of your friends." She looked behind her at the person weighed down with an armful of food. "Ron's here, too. Along with all of the other Weasleys." 

Ron waved enthusiastically, opting to not talk with a mouth full of food. 

"Enough chit-chat, Granger. Dumbledore needs to see him immediately," Snape barked.

Harry's face fell at that comment. The last person he wanted to see right now was Albus. 

Severus motioned his hand in the direction of another door in the hallway, leading to the main room in which most of the Order's meetings were held. 

Pushing open the door, Harry was surprised to see that, inside, it was completely empty. 

No table, no chairs, no people, nothing. It had all been removed. And, of course, in the center of it all, stood Professor Albus Dumbledore. 

Harry fixed a blank expression on his face. 

The doors snapped closed behind him, leaving the two in utter peace. 

"Hello, Harry." 

"Hello Professor." 

Dumbledore stood silent for a moment, as if contemplating. "Harry, as you've probably already guessed, something has happened tonight, and we don't know what." 

"So I gathered." 

Albus frowned. "Can you tell me anything that happened to you tonight, Harry? Anything at all? If something is kept, like it has been in the past," he frowned harder now, starring at the floor. He was meaning the secrets that he had kept. Not Harry's secrets, "then we might lose more loved ones that we ever wanted to." 

"Tell me what you saw, wherever it was this _thing_ happened," Harry stated. Last time he went first, he didn't all of the details reciprocated. 

Dumbledore nodded. "Fair enough. There is a graveyard that had been placed just outside of a very tiny village. Nothing around it but trees and grass. This graveyard, however, is no longer there. It was blown up by some sort of magic." 

"The whole thing?," Harry asked, a little bewildered. 

"Yes. The whole thing. Most wizards and witches around the world felt it. But when I got there but two minutes after the decimation, there were no traces of magical evidence anywhere. There was nothing left in that cemetery but this." Albus held up a silver hand that had been severed. 

Harry blanched at the sight. "Wormtail. That was his hand. Voldemort gave it to him after he put his own hand into the potion that brought Voldemort back with my blood…" his voice tapered off, not wanting to relive that experience. 

Albus nodded. "What did you feel tonight Harry?" 

Harry was silent for a moment. Should he tell? What did he have to lose? "At first, Voldemort had been extremely happy. Almost like he had done something that no one else could ever do. Then there was some shock, and a lot of anger. The next thing I knew, pain was the only thing I could feel. It was so bad, my scar actually bled." 

Albus raised an eyebrow. "It bled?" 

"Yes." 

The aged man seemed to nod to himself, thinking. "Then I don't suppose you saw anything else there in that cemetery through Voldemort, did you?" 

Harry shook his head. "Just a bunch of darkness." 

Albus Dumbledore stood aside. "Then you wouldn't recognize who this is?" 

Asleep on the large hearth on front of the fireplace a small boy was lay curled up, wearing clothing that not even Harry had ever seen before. Goth to the extreme. He had to be. A follower of Voldemort, perhaps? A child Death Eater? 

"Who is he, Professor?" 

"He was found asleep in the middle of the decimated cemetery, unharmed." 

Harry's eyes bugged out of his head. Unharmed. _The boy who lived…_

Maybe his destiny was over? 

Wishful thinking, probably. 

There was a small rustling noise as the boy seemed to stir. He was waking. 

~ * ~

Yuugi Motou felt, for some strange reason, like a corpse. He had no energy to move, no will to lift an arm, and no thought capacity to open an eyelid. 

This was a very strange situation for him to be in, considering the fact that he was, indeed, conscious. And he could, indeed, vaguely hear a distant conversation from somewhere near him. Of course, it probably sounded distant simply because he couldn't bring himself to decipher what he was hearing. 

Funny thing, too. He _would_ have to decipher what he was hearing. For, as he was coming to find out, it was not his native language. 

And when in the _blazes_ did he go to sleep? The last thing he remembered, he was in the middle of wiping Kaiba's sorry rear-end on the floor in yet another duel. 

:_Yami? Are you awake?_: 

The young teen felt a strange tickling noise in the back of his mind. His darkness was snoring. :_Yami! Wake up! Where in Duat are we?_: 

The vibrations ceased, and he felt a familiar presence within him stirring in exhaustion. 

-_Firstly, we're not in the Egyptian underworld. I'm not entirely sure where we are. Secondly, wake me up in another three thousands years once my energy has recuperated._- 

:_What happened to us, darkness? Why are we here, wherever here is? Why can't I move?_: 

The darkness within him was silent for a moment, gathering the energy to tell him, and struggling to organize his thoughts into order. -_We…I…was summoned by someone. Any spirit, no matter how powerful, is subject to being summoned. But that doesn't mean that they can be controlled. I don't think that whoever it was knew that you would be coming along, as we are bonded. In fact, I'm almost positive that the person who summoned me guessed that I would have a host, but didn't predict the fact that our bond would be so strong as to drag you with me. And since he wanted to use me, bind me to him to do his bidding, it would tear me away from you. And so I delt with him accordingly._-

Yuugi tried to move his eyes, testing how much, or little for that matter, strength he really had. That simple little action left him feeling slightly dizzy. :_How powerful was he, Yami, that it would take up this much energy? I know that you pulled from me as well, simply to do whatever it was that you did._:

-_If he and Malik became partners, they would have been equal allies in destruction, and I truly think that all would be lost._- 

That was enough explanation in itself. Yami Yuugi had a terrible time fighting off the mind control tactics of Malik before. It seemed that this opponent had been just as formidable. 

Then again, using shadows was a very trying, very taxing way of dealing with an enemy. 

Yuugi struggled with his weary muscles. :_Please, Yami, help me in any way you can. I need to get up, just to see where we are for even a moment. Then we can contemplate on what to do next._:

He felt no reluctance through his shared consciousness as he fought with himself to move, feeling a little amount of energy trickle into his system. This would be almost all that his yami had left in him to give. 

Perspiration broke out upon his forehead as he struggled further upward, now leaning on his hands on a hard, brick surface. He blinked his eyes open, pushing back the remains of sleep and tears. 

Whispering sounded in his ear. Gasps? Is that what he heard? Sounds of shock? 

Withered old hands appeared before his eyes, reaching up to him. Yuugi yelped, pushing himself as far away from those hands as he could. "Iie, iie!" he cried, moving further back on what he now knew was a hearth. A rather large one, with a good sized fireplace. Yuugi thought of the old ones that people used to use for cooking in kettles and pots hung over the fire. 

"Easy, lad, we're here to help you." 

Yuugi looked up at a man with the longest beard he had ever seen, wearing funny purple robes and a tall purple hat. 

__

A wizard? 

"N-nani?" Yuugi squeaked, looking up at this strange anomaly standing before him. Did he just get dropped into some strange storybook? 

Yami was stirring with apprehension within him. 

The man frowned. "Do you speak our language, my boy?" 

Funny accent this man had, too. Yuugi swore that he was older than Yami for a minute. 

He knew this language. But from where?…

__

Would the night were upon us! Till then, sit still my soul… 

Of course! Shakespeare! Hamlet! All those long hours slaving over text books! "English!" Yuugi declared. He remembered! 

-_That funny sounding tongue that has no rhyme or reason to its structure?_-

:_That's the one!_: 

The sparkling blue eyes of the old man seemed pleased. "Ah, good. Helps with the language barrier." 

Yuugi looked around him, seeing a bleak room with no tables, no chairs, and made of seemingly solid oak wood. He also noticed another boy standing and looking at him strangely. He was tall and lanky, with a messy mop of jet black hair and vivid green eyes. 

He too, wore robes, these black. -_Gauls!-_ his darkness screeched, trying to fan to life to destroy the two looking at Yuugi. 

__

:Funniest looking gauls I've ever seen,: Yuugi commented. 

Yami Yuugi was silent for a moment, noticing the age difference, and the fact that their eyes were not glazed over like all of Malik's puppets had been. Or crazed for that matter. -_Good point._- His darkness quieted down, but only just slightly. 

"Who are you," Yuugi questioned, "and where am I?" 

The old man seemed to hesitate for a moment, looking at Yuugi strangely. "My name is Professor Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You are currently at the secret house of the Order of the Phoenix." He looked over at Harry, motioning with his hand. "This is Harry Potter, one of my students." 

Yuugi blinked. :_Well, **that's** original._: His darkness chuckled dryly. 

Albus looked back at Yuugi. "Who are you?" 

"Motou Yuugi," he replied offhandedly. "Look, Dumbleybumb, can I go home? What country am I in?" 

"Dumbledore," the old man corrected. Yuugi waved him off. "Currently, you are in a remote part of England." 

:_Grand. Too bad Ryou's not with us. Maybe he could look up his father._: Yami concurred with this statement. 

"Ever heard of a place called Domino, Japan," Yuugi asked weakly. 

Albus frowned. "There is no such place." 

Yuugi blanched. "No Japan, or no Domino?" 

"No Japan," Albus stated. 

Yuugi's already pale faced became even paler. :_Yami, you…you don't think we're in another dimension, do you?_:

He felt his darkness give a heavy sigh. -_There is no other explanation I can think of_.- 

Yuugi swore in three different languages under his breath. 

Albus raised a pure white eyebrow. "So," he started, moving on to other conversation. "Do you know what you were doing in that cemetery?" 

The short teen realized now that he had done a lot of frowning this evening. "Cemetery?" His brow furrowed in confusion. 

"Yes. The place where you were found. Do you remember seeing someone there? Or something?" 

:_Ah, hell, I remember glowing red eyes, and a whole bunch of runes scattered about. I didn't see anything else, though, with you in control, Yami._: 

His darkness nodded tiredly. -_The one that summoned me, and I believe that he had an accomplice. Think carefully about answering, though, aibou. If this person finds out what was going on, they are no doubt going to want to know how it was delt with._-

Yuugi thought back to Battle City. :_If they know that you're in the puzzle, they may want to take it too. I can't risk that. I **won't**._: 

Yuugi looked up with a determined face. "All I remember is glowing red eyes, and some runes that had been placed around me. I have no further memory of what happened." 

Albus's face fell. "Yes… of course." 

Suddenly and without warning, the tall lanky kid that had been standing the background the whole time came forward. "Glowing red eyes," he said. "Did you see a type of face behind it?" 

Yuugi thought for a moment. "Yeah. Kind of snake like." He growled lowly. How dare some vile creature defile the name of the serpent as such? The cobra was the guardian of the Pharaoh, not some hissing beast that allies should fear! 

"Voldemort!" Harry cried. "You saw Voldemort!" 

Yuugi scratched his head. "Should I know this person?" -_Sounds like a name Kaiba would come up with if he went on a world domination quest._- 

Yuugi snorted. :_Kaiba's too proud of his name to come up with a new one._: 

__

-…good point.- 

"seems a bit young to have to confront someone like him," Albus though out loud. 

Yuugi tried to look indignant, but it merely looked like a pout. "I'm seventeen, you know. I'm not that young." 

Albus had to step back for a moment, previously thinking that the boy had been no older than twelve, thirteen at most. 

The other teen went on with his earlier discussion. "He's the Dark Lord," he said, unbelieving that someone couldn't know who he was. 

Yuugi sneered. "Dark? He's not dark. He's just a slimy parasite." 

Albus noticed the young man's eyes take on an unearthly red hue, his face becoming suddenly harder than before. "Most people don't know what dark is," his voice, now suddenly deeper, hissed harshly. The Professor was stunned silent for a moment, taking all of this in. 

Yuugi's eyes went back to their warm lavender, and his cherubic face suddenly became flushed and pale. "Look, I'm still really tired. Can…can I go back to sleep now? Am I safe?" 

Albus nodded. "Yes. You're safe." 

~ * ~

Harry was pacing back and forth uncontrollably. No fear. No fear at all that he could detect in that boy.

He had mentioned Voldemort's red eyes. He had mentioned his serpent-like face. But no fear…none at all. 

How had he gotten out of that mess? Who had stopped Voldemort from whatever he had been doing? Had Harry somehow done something through that strange link of his? Had the boy done something? Some strange powers that he wasn't talking about? 

And that transformation at the end of the discussion…so dark he seemed to have become. So harsh…

He simply had to be hiding something. It was just too suspicious. 

Harry had told his concerns to Dumbledore this time. And, surprisingly, Albus had been very open with him about the whole thing. He too agreed that the boy that had been found needed to be watched closely. 

__

How had he gotten out alive? 

As soon as this _Motou Yuugi_ woke up, Snape was going to question him, and maybe see if he had any kind of magical abilities whatsoever. If he did, then he'd have to be enrolled in school. Even if he was almost seven years behind. 

So strange…

Harry almost felt sorry for the boy. Contending with Snape was never any fun. Then again…if he held his own against Voldemort, then he sure had a sporting chance against Severus…

He'd have to tell Hermione and Ron about this, too. 

Harry stopped, looking up in thought for a moment. _Who the bloody hell has hair like **that** anyway?_

So very, very strange…

~ * ~

Wow. This update took a little while didn't it? Hehe, that's what happens when one gets sick just before Christmas break…gah. Oh well. Hope you enjoyed. Review? Suggestions? All are welcome! 

Oh, and so you know, so that you won't have to pester me later, **Ryou, Bakura and Malik and Ishtar WILL show up in later chapters! Have no fear!!**

Ja! 


	3. Chuckles and Shields

****

Alias of Chaos

Yuugi sat on the edge of the particularly musty bed, feeling unusually moody that morning. Granted, getting dumped in a strange dimension where one's homeland doesn't exist, it tends to not settle very well. He also had the overwhelming urge to toy with someone's head today. Of course, that had always been his yami's specialty, but still, it was always fun being nauseatingly difficult. Especially if the person he was being difficult with had no power over him whatsoever. 

His stomach growled, letting him know that he was very, _very_ hungry. Summoning shadow powers worked up an appetite. Not to mention eating enough food to sustain the energy levels of _two_ people on top of that. Yami wasn't feeding off the puzzle anymore for energy. The stronger he grew, the more he relied on Yuugi. It was no wonder he could form outside of the puzzle now. 

Heh. And his grandfather always wondered how he could eat so much. 

The door creaked open, and Yuugi saw a head of curly red hair poke through. "Hello, dear. You must be famished. Dumbledore asked me to fix you up a spot of breakfast." 

The woman that came in with the tray of food was kindly looking, slightly chubby and glowing with maternal affections. His mother would probably have described her as 'plump with love.' There wasn't a trace of ill-will in her aura. 

Funny. Yuugi had never been able to actually _see_ the energy fields of people before. He could simply _feel_ it around people. Some sort of strong sixth sense. Yami said that he was an empath, or in other words, someone who was heightened in the sense of empathy to an extreme. 

Now, however, he could actually _see_ the energy floating around this woman. He wondered for a flittering moment if he could _see_ his own if he looked in a mirror. 

Not that there were any mirrors in this room at the moment. 

"Yes, I am hungry," he tried to pronounce. Simply because he could read and write English didn't mean that he could pronounce it terribly well. 

The woman smiled warmly, tottering in and setting the plate down on the dresser that was next to the bed. Yuugi looked over at the plate, cautious. "Um…gomen ma'am, but…what on earth is this?" 

"Oh, don't you fret," she smiled. "It's meat pasties, pumpkin juice, fresh oatmeal and bagels with blackberry jam." 

Yuugi frowned. "Seems kind of heavy. You don't have any fruit or rice balls, do you?" 

The woman frowned. "Rice balls?" 

The teenager's face fell. "Never mind." 

-_Looks like we're going to have to adjust to the menu, aibou._- 

:_Not if I can help it. I'll get into the kitchen as soon as they let me out of this infernal room. I'm not **that** bad of a cook._: He heard his darkness chuckle within him. 

"If you need anything else, deary, my name is Mrs. Weasely. You can find me just about anywhere in the house." 

"Arigatou," Yuugi replied, skeptically picking up a bagel. "Motou Yuugi." 

The woman stopped before turning back around. "What was that?" She asked confusedly. 

"Oh, uh, thank you. My name is Motou Yuugi." 

"Motou," she mused. "Unusual first name to have…" 

Yuugi shook his head. "No, it's my last name. My first name is Yuugi." 

"Oh! Well, that's a little better, I suppose. Still highly unusual." 

-_I suppose people here do not introduce themselves last name first,_- Yami observed. 

:_Guess I'll have to get in the habit of telling them my first name before my last, then._: 

"Goodbye, dear," the woman replied as she left. 

"Goodbye, Mrs. Weasely," Yuugi said, taking a small bite of the bagel still in his hand. 

Yuugi sat in silence for a little while, slowly chewing on the food that had been brought up for him. The flavor was highly off, and he wasn't sure if he could get used to the way if felt like a lead weight in his stomach. :_Think they'll have sake here,_: he asked hopefully. 

Yami mentally snorted. -_Not likely. And if they did, I doubt they'd let you have any._-

Yuugi visibly pouted. No way of escaping reality this time. :_Hopefully I'll wake up soon._:

Yami didn't have a response. Not a verbal one, at least. He knew that Yuugi was feeling quite alone at the moment, and would otherwise feel abandoned were his darkness not with him. Fanning his presence to a slightly larger size, it gave Yuugi the impression that his yami was trying to hug him from the inside, and always gave the younger teen a large form of comfort. One of those warm and fuzzy feelings that spanned from his toes to his finger tips. 

Suddenly, there was a brief knock at the front door, and Yuugi glanced up quickly to see another figure entering, this one different than the woman that had brought up his food for him. 

It was a tall man, dressed in billowing black robes and donning a head of greasy black hair. His aura was strange. It still carried that vile green hue that the Voldemort character wreaked of, but it was slightly faint in this person. The dominant color about him was a strange purple hue, dimmed and rather stagnant. 

Very unlike the living shadows that were undoubtedly wafting about the pharaoh at the moment. 

Yuugi and Yami realized at the same moment that this person was indeed trustworthy, but still carried with him the dirty remnants of his past. 

"Well," he drawled, lip slightly turned up in a snarl. Yuugi knew that no matter what he said at this point in time, this person was not going to trust him in the least. "Dumbledore as informed me that your name is Motou. Pleasure to meet you. My name is Professor Snape." 

Yuugi rubbed his head. "Motou is my last name," he replied exasperated. "My first name is Yuugi." 

"I am well aware of that fact," he snarled back. "I reply to all of my pupils by their last name. I will not make an exception for you." 

:_Well, he sure sounds cheery._: Did Yuugi just hear the sound of knuckles cracking inside of his head? 

-_I'll make him happy real quick…_-

:_Behave,_: Yuugi chided. He suppressed a grin when he felt Yami pout. 

"Are you listening?!" Snape shouted at him. 

Yuugi looked up, blinking owlishly. "No, what was that you said?" 

The black-haired man growled loudly, not liking the disrespect he was being shown. "I said that I need to find out if you have any magical abilities whatsoever. If you know that you do, please demonstrate for me." 

It looked like Yuugi was going to get his chance to be difficult. Besides, who could he really trust here, anyway? Just _who_ were these people? Did they know of Shadow magic? 

"Why?" 

Snape looked at a loss for words at the moment. "Fine," he finally said. "So we'll do this the hard way." He walked up closer to Yuugi, pulling out a piece of wood that was finely polished and pointing it at Yuugi directly. 

The teenager blinked, looking at the small point in front of him. He raised an eyebrow. "A stick? You've got to be kidding." 

The man muttered something under his breath, then waved the wand around in a quick fashion. 

__

-Quick!- his yami shouted. -_Erect shields! He's going to try to break down our defenses!_- 

:_Not bloody likely!_: Yuugi felt his soul merge with his darkness, his body's arms moving outwards to better control the shadows that were ever flowing about him these days. 

Snape looked on in utter confusion when his activation charm bounced harmlessly off an invisible barrier around the small boy on the bed, a new red hue in his large purple eyes. All that he was going to do was apply a charm that would turn a silver color if the boy had magical abilities-any at all- or a light blue if he did not. But the boy somehow deflected it. 

Of course, in order for the spell to work, he would have to open the boy up to show the energies around him, as most wizards closely guarded what abilities they possessed. 

But this boy, a _boy_, had evaded every component of the charm without trouble. 

"So," Snape swallowed, "you do have some magic." _Powerful magic, too._

"You might be thinking me rather adept at the moment," Yami commented, a strange look his eyes. "But you are mistaken in your judgement by what you've just seen. I have noticed that you people have very few shields around yourselves. You are so open to any kind of attack it's scary. I, on the other hand, have been trained to shield myself against any onslaught that my enemy could possible use. That was but a simple shield that I had to erect to block you out. You're going to have to work harder than that to break me down, professor." 

Snape wasn't sure what to make of this boy before him. Was he a threat at all? Had Voldemort left him there in that cemetery, knowing that he would be found, only to have him destroy all that he came in contact with? "Who are you," he hissed. 

"I have already told you," Yami stated, now in full control of Yuugi's body. "Yuugi Motou." He was silent for a moment, looking over the professor with a steely eye. 

Why did it feel like judgement was being passed on his very soul? 

"You have the same slime about you as that Voldemort I've been hearing so much about." He gave a knowing grin. "You hate it, don't you? You resent what you were in the past, and have an absolute loathing for others who align themselves with that same slime you used to be apart of. But even further, you resent those who were never apart of that same bile from whence you emerged…" 

"Silence!" Snape ordered. Yami was striking a nerve deep down inside. How could he possibly know? Did those piercing crimson eyes-since when did they become so bloodied?- look inside of him somehow and witness what no other was ever supposed to know? How much more could he find out? 

"You think I'm a product of that slime, as well, don't you? Wondering if I'm a threat or not to your safety." Yami gave a sinisterly dark chuckle.

"_Silencio!_" Snape cried, waving his wand again. And again, his attack bounced harmlessly away. 

"I can tell you this now: The only way I'm a threat is if you in any way threaten my safety yourself. May the gods have mercy upon the soul who thinks that they can cross me and live to tell the tale." 

"Why…why can't I detect your powers? It's almost like…like…" 

"Trying to trace a shadow?" Yami supplied. 

Snape took a step back. Perhaps he was imagining the dark shadows that were flowing about this boy in front of him. Perhaps he was even hallucinating? "What are you," he whispered. 

Yami smirked, red eyes flashing menacingly. "Wouldn't you like to know…" 

The tall man fled the room in a blind fury. 

:_You know, Yami, you probably shouldn't have scared him like that. Now what is everyone going to think of us?_: 

-_He'll be alright, aibou. He's been pretty vicious to a lot of people before that didn't deserve it. Maybe now he'll think twice before he thinks himself superior to the next person in line._- 

Yuugi merely made a mental frown, not liking where this could be going one bit. :_Wonder what he's going to tell everyone._: 

-_And what everyone will do with that information once they have it._-

~ * ~

Professor Severus Snape stormed down the stairs two steps at a time, making a mad dash towards the council room. Wary eyes shifted in his direction as he passed, wondering what he uncovered about the mysterious boy that was currently in the spare room upstairs. 

The doors flew open with a hearty bang, revealing an old wizard in dark green robes, going through a bag of lemon drops with a witch with pink hair. 

"Headmaster," Snape greeted. 

Albus looked up, then nodded to the witch who left quickly. His sparkling blue eyes twinkled as they gazed upon the potions master. It always seemed like he was looking right through the person, already expecting them to say what he already knew. "Yes, Severus? I trust everything went well?" 

"I can tell you this," Snape spoke matter-of-factly. "That boy up there is, by no means, related to the Dark Lord in any fashion. He does, however, have strong magical abilities. So much so that it was nearly impossible for me to find out their extent. You see, he shielded them from me." 

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Shielded?" 

Snape nodded slowly. "Although he is not affiliated with Voldemort, he still needs to be watched very, very closely. I have a feeling that he will be a threat until we win his trust." 

Dumbledore looked down for a moment, contemplating. "Well, I think that I have just the trick for that. In the mean time, I need you to concentrate on finding out if Voldemort has been spotted anywhere since last night, and keep up with your prior obligations." 

Severus nodded, turned sharply around then left the room. 

Dumbledore took another lemon drop from his bag, placing it gently in his mouth. So the boy was not a product of Voldemort at all. Still, though. What was he doing here? What was this 'Japan' that he spoke of? 

…Why did he seem so dark at times? What was he hiding? 

And what was more…exactly how far could he get the boy to open up? 

So many questions. 

~ * ~

Harry looked back to Ron, squinting in the dim light to see him. "See. I told you. No way related to Voldemort." 

Ron hissed with the name. "Stop saying that name!" he whispered sharply. He heard Hermione sigh behind him. 

"Oh, please Ron! You should be over that by now!" 

Harry continued. "Voldemort's underlings-oh Ron, stop wincing!-only show a reverence to him. Everyone else fears him. But that boy that they found…I'm telling you Ron, he wasn't afraid. He _sneered_ when Voldemort was mentioned!" 

"What ever happened to that Mad-Eye-Moody fake? What about him?" Ron questioned pessimistically. 

"Not even he could bring himself to actually talk _badly_ about Voldemort," Hermione pointed out. "What was it you said had been mentioned Harry? Something about slime?" 

"He called Voldemort a slimy parasite," Harry replied, grateful that at least Hermione was understanding. 

The three friends had found a secret compartment inside of the wall of the council room, giving them just enough ear space and peeking room to view all of what transpired inside. They had heard the entire conversation between the potions master and Professor Dumbledore. 

"What do you suppose he meant by 'prior obligations?'" Ron asked. 

Harry shrugged. "Could be anything." 

"I wonder how Dumbledore is going to try to win the boy's trust," Hermione pondered out loud. 

"I've got a stinking suspicion that I'm going to be right in the middle of all of it," Harry muttered. 

"What makes you say that," Hermione questioned. 

Ron looked exasperated. "Isn't he always?" 

~ * ~

Review? Please? Pretty please? 


	4. Bricks and Books

****

Alias of Chaos

Professor McGonagall stormed down the stairs hurriedly, panic written all over her features. Her forest green robes billowed around her aging form, her tall witch's hat going slightly askew from her trot. "Arthur! Headmaster! Severus! Come quickly!!!" 

Eight different heads popped up from five different directions. Three of which were from the people she had called, whilst the other five were from the children that had been lurking about for the past few days. Primarily Ron, Harry, Hermione, and the twins Fred and George. 

"What's wrong, Minerva?" Arthur Weasely asked, juggling his coffee and toast for the morning. 

"I went upstairs to brief the boy of our earlier conversations, and I found the room to be empty." 

"Empty," Severus asked. 

"Where could he be," Arthur questioned. 

"Everyone, remain calm, and start searching the house. We can hope that he was simply getting cooped up from being in the same room for over three days," Albus reasoned, and every one jumped off in different directions. 

Harry looked at Ron. "Let's go look, too." 

"Are you crazy," Ron bellowed. "You heard what Snape said earlier! This kid could turn us to chopped liver if he really wanted to, what with this strange magic of his and all. I'm not doing it!" 

"We'll go," Fred offered, a familiar grin spreading across his face. "Who knows? Maybe he knows a bit about gag magic. He could give a few pointers with our shop!" Fred and George were gone before anyone could protest. 

"Well, I'm going to look," Harry replied. "I'd like to know a little bit more about him myself." 

"I'm going to go, too," Hermione spoke up, walking purposefully down the hall. "That's it, abandon me," Ron whined. Shaking his head, he got up and followed the rest of the group, only to find that everyone had vanished. Damned house and all of it's corridors. 

~ * ~

Harry had noted that a lot of people had gone to either the kitchen, the living area, the den, the basement, or outside. The bedrooms had already been checked, it seemed. So, naturally, there was only one place left for him to go. 

The library. 

Of course, why someone would want to go that musty old room was beyond him, but it was the only place left to look. Everywhere else was currently in the process of being searched. 

Grabbing hold of the rusty knob, he turned it, and pushed the door softly open. 

Perhaps he was having a bit of luck today, but what he saw came as no little shock. 

The boy that everyone was looking for was sitting comfortably on the arm of a rather large leather couch, a foot propped up on a table, with a huge book placed open on his thigh. His deep purple eyes were heavily concentrating, his cherubic face twisted up in contemplation. 

The heavy library door squeaked as it closed. 

"Funny place you people have here," the boy stated, not looking up from the book. "It's so different. Did you know that Japan is actually called '_Jepain_'? It's no wonder no one had ever heard of it. And it also seems that Jamaica has been replaced with '_Jaunalu',_ Congo is apart of the Nigerian Republic, Madagascar is a National Reserve for Endangered Species, and Rome didn't concur Egypt until five hundred years after what I had been taught. Also, the lower western part of Canada is apart of the United States, and Quebec is now called 'New France.' Of course languages are still the same, just the Japanese dialect is slightly off." He fell silent again as he continued to read. 

Harry blinked at what he just heard. Well. That was odd. "What do you mean it's…different?" 

The boy was silent as he thought the question over. 

"You're not from around here, are you?" 

The boy frowned. "There are a lot of different meanings for the word '_here'_." 

Harry came in further, sitting down in an empty armchair. "Everyone in the whole house is looking for you." 

"Am I that popular," he questioned. He flipped a page in the book. 

"People here seem to have a fancy for popularity," Harry spoke quietly. 

The boy's eyes narrowed as he read further. "You seem to speak from experience." 

"I do." Harry shook his head. "Forgive my manners. My name is Harry, Harry Potter." 

"So I've heard," the boy replied. His wide eyes looked up from his reading. "Yuugi Motou." 

Harry was silent for a moment as he began to think. This young man had magic, right? He knew what it was, how to manipulate it, and how to even outsmart Snape _and_ Voldemort. "My name doesn't sound familiar to you?" 

An elegant eyebrow was raised. "And my name doesn't sound familiar to you?" 

Harry let out a sigh of relief. 

"That seems to make you happy." Yuugi looked back to the pages in front of him. 

"When you have people who practically squeal when they see you, it does come as a relief." 

"Here, here," Yuugi agreed. "It's also nice to not have people wanting to stab you every time your back is turned." 

Harry turned his head to the side. "You sound like you speak from experience." 

Yuugi's deep purple eyes took on an unearthly red hue, swirling into endless pools of…memories? Wisdom? Or forgotten darkness? "Too much so." He closed his eyes and snapped the book shut, placing it back on the book shelf. The spell was over, and his eyes were back to normal. 

"What possessed you to come in here in the first place," Harry questioned. 

Yuugi gave a slight smirk as he thought back, remembering. 

__

The teenager starred up blankly at the ceiling, cursing every deity that was supposed to be looking after him. He wanted to be home right now. He didn't want to be here, and he didn't want to know any more about this strange dimension he was in. He sighed audibly, unable to fall back asleep in the dreary haze of pre-morning. 

Dusky hands landed on his bent knees, pushing his legs open slightly as his darkness settled in, placing his arms on either side and resting his chin in the palms of his hands, looking at Yuugi expectantly. 

Yuugi felt his chest rise against his yami's as he tried to breathe, leather shirt against exposed flesh. "What are you up to?" 

"Me? I wouldn't be up to anything." Crimson eyes danced with mischief, a small smile gracing tanned lips. 

"You're a terrible liar, Yami." 

His darkness nuzzled the hollow of his neck, smiling devilishly. "No, hikari. I'm a terrific liar. You're just the only one who can read my thoughts and know the difference." He began to rain butterfly kisses down pale flesh bathed in moonlight. 

"Yami, no…what if someone walks in on us?" 

He felt his yami frown against his skin. "I'm not, aibou. I know the risks are too high. I just miss your touch." He grabbed one of Yuugi's spare hands and held it to his face. 

Yuugi's heart sank, knowing that it had been almost four days now since his darkness was able to take a solid form and be near him. He gave a kiss to his yami's temple. "I'm tired of not knowing exactly where we are. What's going on? What else is different in this dimension? Where the hell is our home?" 

Yami looked back up again, staring at his lover intensely. "Think about it, aibou. We're in a big house, with lots of people. They called it what, the Order of the Phoenix?" 

"Right…" 

"Well, any big place like this is bound to have some sort of archive…" 

"Of course! The library!" He came up and kissed his darkness deeply. However, the excitement was soon replaced with slight despair. :Guess you'll have to go back for now.: 

-I'll be able to come back out later. If anyone misses us up here, they'll find us sooner or later.- 

Breaking the kiss, Yuugi felt the pressure on top of him diminish as his darkness faded back inside of the puzzle. 

"Some internal inspiration," Yuugi spoke cryptically. "I suppose I'd better show my face to the rest of the world, less they panic like they seem to be doing." 

Harry quirked an eyebrow as they exited the musty old library. 

~ * ~

"Hey, there he is!" 

Minerva McGonagall looked towards the door that George-or was it Fred?- was pointing to as a head of spiked black, blonde, and ruby hair walked in. 

"I found him in the library," Harry spoke, walking in as well. 

The transfiguration teacher looked down at Yuugi harshly. "Do you have any idea how long we've been looking for you?" 

Yuugi crossed his arms, looking back at the teacher just as fiercely. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for some answers? Three days is an awfully long time to sit idle and wonder where on earth I am. I committed no crime by reading a couple of books, did I?" 

Harry was dumbstruck to see someone so small stand up against the harsh glare of McGonagall. It was amazing just how well he held his own ground. 

"You should have at least told someone where you would be going." 

"At three in the morning?" 

Silence. "The rest of you, leave the room immediately. Mr. Motou and I have some things we need to discuss." Harry, Fred, and George left the den quietly. 

Professor McGonagall turned back to Yuugi, arms crossed. "It has been determined, young man, that you have no home to return to in the meantime." 

"Correct." 

"So, instead of turning you over to the Ministry, we have decided that it is in your best interest to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." 

Yuugi blinked, confused. "Why?" 

"Every young man needs an education, and you have already demonstrated that you have magical abilities that need to be attended to." 

-_!#&%_- his darkness cursed. -_Perhaps they believe that we have the same magic they do._-

:_I wouldn't doubt it,_: Yuugi consoled. 

"And unless you a follower of Voldemort," McGonagall went on. 

Yuugi snorted. "Please," Yuugi asked. "Don't insult me." 

"Then our Headmaster sees no reason to not send you to Hogwarts." 

"How will I pay for this? I have no money." _Not any of their money, at any rate._

"Don't worry about that. It'll all be taken care of. However, in the meantime, you need to go to Diagon Alley and get all of your school supplies. Here's a list," she handed him a piece of parchment paper with delicate scrawled writing on it, "and enough money to by your supplies. Harry will be going with you." 

Yuugi took the pouch of coins, the whole ordeal still feeling entirely surreal. "Sounds like fun." 

"You leave in three minutes, so I suggest you hurry into the kitchen immediately." 

__

The kitchen? Why on earth would I need to go the kitchen? 

~ * ~

Yuugi stood starring at the fire, wondering if perhaps he was still dreaming after all. :_Yami, did you remember to pinch me?_: 

__

-No fair, only if you inch me first.-

Yuugi scoffed out loud. :_Dirty yami…_:

"Just take a pinch of the floo powder," Mrs. Weasely replied, holding out a small velvet pouch in her hands. Yuugi did so. "Throw it into the fire, and say clearly, 'Diagon Alley!' Go on deary, it's all right." 

Yuugi threw the powder into the fire he was standing in front of, watching as the flames turned green. "Diagon Alley!" He cried, suddenly feeling the floor give out underneath of him. 

He felt like he was getting dizzy as he watched shafts of light twirl around him, holding his arms in closely, afraid he might hit the walls. 

In a cloud of dust and ashes, he found himself thrust out in another fire place, the lighting a bit darker than it had been when he last saw a room. 

Coughing, he began to wipe himself off when Harry bounded out behind him. 

"I don't like that," Yuugi commented dryly. 

"I've yet to get used to it," Harry replied. "Hagrid is supposed to be around here somewhere, Professor McGonagall said that he'd be looking after us today." 

-_Who says we need looking after,_- Yami commented. 

:_Those who don't trust us yet, or see us as too young._: 

__

-Young?!- Yami bellowed. - _I'm old enough to be a relic! Young?!…_- Yami continued to rant inside of his head. Yuugi deduced that his darkness was having a hard time dealing with his light having a juvenile body. _Only a couple of more years…only a couple more years until I'm of age…_

"So, ah, where are we," Yuugi asked, looking around at the type of restaurant setting. 

"The Leaky Cauldron," Harry filled in, heading towards the back. "Follow me." 

Yuugi followed obediently, suddenly finding himself starring at a brick wall. "Let me guess, this is no ordinary brick wall?" Yuugi asked. 

"Nope." Harry pulled out his wand, and tapped five different bricks. 

Yuugi was amazed to see the bricks fold away right in front of him. _I'll have to remember this trick later on._

Before his eyes unfolded the area known as Diagon Alley. 

~ * ~

Well, that's all for now. I hope that this cleared up the whole 'Japan' ordeal. A lot of people seem to have been getting confused with that. Remember, this is a different dimension, so things are going to be a bit different here. 

….Not to mention the fact that the authoress has a very twisted mind, and can bend things to her own chaotic will…mwahahahahahah….*coughs* 

As for the shounen-ai, thing, I did take into consideration _not_ making it one, however, the requests were simply too high, and not to mention the fact that I enjoy it myself. However, it will not get in the way of the story-line. And, no, I'm sorry, but I can't do shounen-ai between Harry Potter cast. It's just not in my genes. *bows head* Gomen. I hope that you still enjoy however! 


	5. Birds and Wands

****

Alias of Chaos

Yuugi couldn't help but gape at all of the sights that greeted him in the crooked little area known as Diagon Alley. Tiny little witches in tall colorful hats were bustling about, children doing their own shopping for the upcoming school year. Wizards and young boys alike lined up at the Quality Quidditch Supplies window display, the knew _Firebolt 2001_ set up for all to see. Ice cream shops and chocoballs for sale at odd carts. Yuugi was absolutely spell-bound. :_I feel like Alice in Wonderland._: 

-_I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Todo,-_ Yami went along. 

:_Wrong movie, Yami._: 

His darkness snorted, making some far off comment that he could never keep track. 

"I think the closest thing to start out with would be Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions," Harry stated, taking a quick glance at his own shopping list. 

"Why robes," Yuugi asked. 

"School dress code," Harry supplied. 

Yuugi blinked as he thought about this. Hey, at least he could probably get away with wearing his leather attire underneath of it. At his school they much preferred jeans to his flashy black clothes. "All right." 

If anything could be considered a modern time warp, this would be it. Most people looked like they were just coming out of the dark ages, even though their conversations were about mostly modern things. _These people seem to really hang on to tradition._

The two of them walked into the shop, a young woman greeting them both at the chime of the doorbell. Harry was going to get some knew robes too, being that he'd had another growth spurt over the summer, and his robes from the year before were already three inches too short. 

"Both getting fitted for robes?" 

"Yes, ma'am," Harry stated. 

Yuugi was quite compliant as he was herded off in the opposite direction of Harry, sighing as he was asked to stand on a slightly taller pedestal for measuring due to his miserably short height. 

"I'll be right back dear, it'll just take me a moment," the woman with brown hair stated. 

"Okay," Yuugi commented. 

As soon as she left, another seamstress came in with another boy who needed to be fitted for some robes, his pale nose stuck particularly high in the air. Yuugi couldn't believe just how blonde he was, and how sleek his hair looked with all of the grease plastered in it. Yuugi felt his stomach churn when he caught a draft of a vile green aura, and all of it was coming from the new male that had walked in. 

Yuugi tried to ignore him until the woman came back, but his unusual attire and outrageous hair always managed to capture everyone's attention. 

The blonde turned and looked at him in aloof arrogance, taking special note of Yuugi's attire. "New around here?" 

"You could say that," Yuugi stated. 

There was a pause before the next question was asked. "Where are you from?" 

"Jepain," Yuugi stated, using the name that Japan had been replaced with in this dimension. 

"Really," the boy asked. "What are the wizards like there? Are there many pureblood families?" 

Yuugi narrowed his eyes slightly in confusion. What the hell was a _pureblood?_ "Uh, I couldn't tell you for sure. I was from a rather small town." 

"Oh, what town was that," the boy asked. 

Yuugi was getting slightly perturbed at all of the questions. He wasn't sure just how many of them he was going to be able to answer. He thought back to the world map he had found, and recognized one of the towns that was still the same from his own travels in Japan with Duel Monsters. "Misawa." 

"Ah, yes, I hear they have excellent sishu there." He turned his head. "Draco Malfoy." 

Ah yes. Sishu. The _new_ term for sushi. Yuugi decided that it might be a good idea to get a bilingual dictionary just to polish up on the differences, in case any one else might have some odd questions for him that happened to be well versed in travels. "Yuugi Motou." Perhaps it was his turn for some questions. "Have you ever been to Jepain?" 

"No, but my father has. He's a very influential member of the International Confederation of Wizards, you know. He has met a lot of important wizards from there, too. All of them purebloods, of course, and he knows of such things."

__

Pompous ass, Yuugi and Yami both thought together. _You don't go flaunting around your status…_

"Are you going to Hogwarts this year," Draco continued. 

"Yeah, how'd you guess," Yuugi asked easily, yet underneath testy about anyone knowing too much about him. 

"Most students get brand new robes for school. Anyone starting out, especially in your year, gets new ones." He paused a moment. "Of course, there _are_ the much lower families who only have hand-me-downs, but you needn't worry too terribly much about them. I can tell you what house you want to be in, and who you should associate with." 

__

-Little bastard, he's worse than Kaiba,- Yami commented coldly. Yuugi was still wondering what on earth a 'house' was. It had to mean something at the school, and he was beginning to think that he didn't like the sound of it. 

Wait a minute…year… "What do you mean, especially my year?" Yuugi questioned. Was there something special about sixth years? 

"Well, you know, being a first year and all, you need robes, and you won't know of anything going on at Hogwarts, like just how much of a crack-pot our Headmaster is." 

Yuugi was a little more inclined to like Dumbledore if someone like Draco was insulting him. He wouldn't trust anything he had to say at all. 

"I'm not a first year," Yuugi stated, trying to hold back his indignation. "I'm a sixth year." 

Draco laughed. "Right, just like that hair you have is natural!" 

"It _is_ natural," Yuugi shot back, bristling with growing anger. 

Draco looked at him and began to laugh again, then stopped as he noticed Yuugi's narrowed eyes. "Well, you don't have to get all haughty about it. But you still can't be a sixth year. No one has ever started out ahead in Hogwarts, and even if you're an exchange student you can't be anymore than a second year." 

"I'm seventeen," Yuugi said firmly. 

The blonde seemed to not believe him, but didn't press the matter. "So who are your parents? My father is Lucious Malfoy. Certainly you've heard of him."   
  
"My parents are dead," Yuugi said harshly, "and no, I've never heard of your family before." 

Draco sneered. "You must be muggle-born then."   
  
Yuugi felt, for the first time, the little nerve above his eye twitch in annoyance. Not even Malik had him this angered before. Draco seemed to know how to _really_ get on his nerves. Yami was ready to teach him a lesson, but Yuugi gently urged him to keep a low profile. 

__

And what the hell was a muggle?! 

"Whatever," he replied. "Minikui, iyana baka." (Ill-looking, un-pleasant fool/idiot.) 

"What," Draco questioned loudly, disdaining the thought of inferiority. 

"I'm back, I have the measuring tape so I can fit you for your new robes," the woman with brown hair declared as she returned, immediately setting to work on measuring Yuugi accordingly. Draco looked quite angry, but stayed wisely silent in the presence of the adult. 

:_We're going to have to keep our eye out for him, he's most likely to cause trouble after this little incident._: 

__

-Agreed. If the little worm tries anything he's going to find his memory wiped in five seconds flat.-

Half an hour later Yuugi met Harry at the front of the store, both of them now carrying bags with a couple of new robes in them. 

"Now that that's over," Yuugi stated, "What's next on the list?" He decided that perhaps he would wait to ask Harry about Draco, if indeed they truly both attended Hogwarts. And to ask all of the questions he had buzzing around inside of his head about what was going to happen to him once he finally got to the school. 

Harry looked at the parchment and green-scrawled cursive. "Flourish and Blotts for books." 

In fact, they were now standing right in front of the store, the wood sign hanging just above their heads. Both went in, and the store keeper looked at them kindly, silently taking note of Yuugi's hair. "And what can I get for you boys today?" 

"Umm…" Harry pondered out loud, looking at their list. "We need one _Unfogging the Future_ by Cassandra Vablatsky, one _Hogwarts, a History_, two _Standard Book of Spells Grade six_, one _Beginning Transfiguration_ and _Intermediate Transfiguration_, and finally two books of each _Mastering Transfiguration_ and _Magical Creatures, a Practical Guide_ by Susie Finnigean." Harry took a breath after all of that, making sure to take into consideration all of the books that Yuugi would need in order to catch up. 

"Coming right up," he stated, grabbing a very large bag from under the counter. 

"Oh," Harry stated. "We also need to get you a standard size 2 pewter cauldron, and some dragon hide gloves." 

"Ooh, dragon hide. Sounds like we get to do some fun things," Yuugi stated. 

Harry blinked. "Right." 

Harry put a few eagle quill feathers on the counter as well, waiting for all of it to be rung up. Yuugi paid his share as did Harry, and they were off to the next stop. 

Afterwards, the two headed off to the Apothecary for potions supplies and dragon-hide gloves, then a break for ice cream. 

Yuugi sat down licking his ice cream happily, enjoying the sunshine that poured atop his head. "Man, this is good stuff," he replied. 

Harry agreed, licking his cookies-and-cream flavored ice cream cone. "You know," he stated absently. "We should probably get you an owl." 

"Why," Yuugi asked curiously. 

"That's how wizards send letters is by Owl Post. They don't do anything electronically here." 

Yuugi furrowed his brow. "You're not originally from _here_?" 

"I grew up in the muggle society," Harry stated. 

"And what on earth _is_ a muggle," Yuugi asked perplexed, thinking back upon his earlier conversation. 

"Non-magic people." 

Yuugi made an 'o' shape with his lips, now comprehending. "Well, okay then. Off to get an owl." 

Polishing off his ice cream, Harry stood, followed by Yuugi. Just down the street the sign _Magical Menagerie_ was slightly flapping in the breeze. 

Walking in, the undersized teenager was greeted with the sounds of birds and owls chirping and hooting madly, colorful little mice and rates scurrying about in their cages, and cats of every color imaginable scattered here and there. Again, Yuugi was mesmerized. _I feel like all of the cards in my deck came to life of their own accord._

Harry stood appreciating the one eagle that was silent in his cage, and Yuugi suddenly spotted something that he couldn't tear his eyes away from. "I can't believe they have one," he cried, his mouth open in awe. Harry came over and looked, seeing a very _large_ falcon eyeing him from inside of his cage. 

"What is it, exactly," Harry questioned. 

Yuugi was ecstatic as he looked on at the red-orange bird. "It's a desert gyre. Gods, they're almost as rare as a mountain gyre, and those are pure white." 

The shop owner came up behind them, unsure. "You don't really want that one, dears. He's a nasty young bird who hasn't allowed anyone to go near him. His beak could rip off a man's arm, and his wing span in almost fifteen feet. You'd never be able to contain him for long." 

"Please," Yuugi pleaded. "Let me at least try." 

Hesitantly, the woman handed him some leather gloves, but Yuugi refused. He knew that many birds who were offset by humans were wary of such things, the obtrusive size causing them to think that it might try to inflict harm. Shaking her head, the woman opened the cage. If he was so insistent, it was his arm, not hers. 

Yuugi held his arm at the cage door, holding it there steadily. :_Come, beautiful one. Come speak to me._: 

The bird perked its head up instantly. :_…Come?_: 

:_That's right. Come to me. Come speak to me._: 

The raptor moved hesitantly forward a couple of inches. :_You? Who you?…Old one. Ancient One._:

Both Yuugi and Yami were slightly surprised that the bird knew the pharaoh's age. Of course, animals were very perceptive. Perhaps it was little wonder. The grammar could hardly hope to get better, but it was decent for a bird. Most falcons and gyres were more intelligent than the common bird. One of the reasons they were that much harder to control. 

And normal humans blamed it on instinct…

:_Yes pretty one. Very old. Come speak to me._: 

The shop-keeper's eyes as well as Harry's grew very large when the desert gyre stepped onto Yuugi's arm without so much as a peep, keeping very careful control over his talons as he wrapped his grip around skin and a thick gold bracelet. 

Yuugi smiled as he stood upright, gazing at the bird adoringly. :_May I pet you? Your feathers are very beautiful._:

The gyre ruffled his feathers appreciatively, adoring the compliments he was receiving. :_Pet? Yes. Pet good._: 

Yuugi ran his fingers down the smooth chest of the large bird, smiling when bead-like eyes closed in bliss. :_Would you like a home, beautiful friend? A place to live?_: 

:…?: the bird sent him, the very thought seeming to be foreign. 

:_Yes, home._: 

The bird made a cooing noise deep within its throat. :_Yes. Home sounds nice. Go home with you._: 

Yuugi smiled triumphantly. Now to come up with a name. He was stumped until Yami supplied one that seemed to fit perfectly. :_Would you like the name Horus, lovely? After an Egyptian god?_: 

The gyre opened its eyes back up again, blinking at him intelligently. :_Yes. Horus sounds nice. Go home with you. Fair deal._: 

Yuugi grinned as he looked back up at the shop keeper, who currently had her mouth hanging open. "I'd like to take him." 

Harry couldn't believe that the sheer size of the bird wasn't pulling him down. He had to way a lot!

"Uh," she stuttered, "three galleons. No more. I probably wouldn't be able to sell him to anyone else, anyway. The last chap who tried to hold him is at Saint Mungo's right now for a crippled limb." 

:_Nasty bad man…said would clip wings to keep me down! Bad man!_:Yuugi was shocked at what he heard, and eased his new bird's angered heart. 

When he first realized that he could mind-speak with other animals who were at least slightly intelligent, he had been quite surprised, but then Yami pointed out that talking with animals mind-to-mind was a lot like talking to the shadows, and he had been right. It made perfect sense that his abilities would carry over to Yuugi, considering how closely they were bonded. 

"Will he be able to send mail, too," Yuugi asked Harry. 

"Sure," Harry shrugged. "So long as he wants to do you the favor." 

Yuugi dug out three of the large coins that Harry had shown him earlier, handing them to the lady now at the counter. "Thank you," he stated. "I'll make sure Horus has a good home." 

The shop-keeper made a face at the name, but said nothing. 

:_Yami, why **is** it that Horus is so light on my arm?_: Yuugi asked curiously. 

-_Magic, Yuugi. Not only ours, but I think that Horus has trace amounts of magic running through him as well, and he doesn't want to be a burden to us._- 

Magic? Yuugi turned back once more before leaving. "Ma'am, how long do birds like him usually live?" 

"Oh, I'd say about forty years or so," she stated. "The magic animals have help them to live longer than muggle pets." 

It was Yuugi's turn to be surprised at the magic in this world now. So long for an animal to live. 

Really, though. This was a comfort. He knew how good of friends animals could become, and this meant that he would have this companion for a long time. "Thank you again," he stated, and walked with Harry out the door. 

Harry was in complete shock. This was possibly as bad as Hagrid with his pet dragon. "Hey, Yuugi, you wouldn't happen to have a pet dragon stuffed in your pocket, would you?" Harry asked suddenly. 

Yuugi muffled his shock at the question, suddenly turning suspicious. No, he didn't have one in his pocket, and his duel monsters weren't pets. They were allies and friends, and they belonged in his deck holster. "No," he stated honestly. "Why?" He certainly wasn't going to reveal the existence of Ra and Osiris in his deck, either. He had luckily won Ra from Malik in their last duel, and thereby relinquished most of Malik's power and insanity. Kaiba still had Obelisk in his deck, and refused to duel for it too. Perhaps he realized that he never would win against Yuugi? 

"Just curious," Harry stated relieved. "A friend of mine had a little incident with that a few years ago." 

Yuugi let out his breath as well. "Oh. Nope, no dragons in my pocket." 

Setting Horus on his shoulder, Yuugi looked at the parchment that Professor McGonagall had given to him that morning, seeing one last thing on the list. "I still need a wand.," he stated. 

"Right," Harry replied, pointing down the street. "Down this way." 

The two walked down the street towards their destination, and Yuugi suddenly realized that they had passed this way many times already. 

The bell chimed above them as they entered, and Yuugi saw an older looking man with silver eyes shining at them in the pale gloom of the dusty shop. "Good afternoon," the man's soft voice murmured, and he gave Yuugi a funny look. "Indeed, a new comer has joined the ranks…so very good to see you sir." 

"Hello," Yuugi said, feeling a sudden sense of deja-vu, the first time he met Isis and her mysterious predictions flittering to the front of his mind. 

"Hello, Harry," the man greeted. "How's your wand? Good? Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple." 

"Good," Harry replied. 

"I am Mr. Ollivander," the man introduced himself to Yuugi, giving a warm smile and extending his hand for a shake. 

Yuugi was much more accustomed to polite bows, but worked past his unease and shook the man's hand. "Yuugi Motou." 

"Now," Mr. Ollivander said, "which is your wand arm?"

"Umm…" Yuugi had no idea what he meant. 

"The hand you write with," Harry supplied. 

"Oh," Yuugi said. "My right hand." He wondered if he should take into account the fact that Yami was left handed. Taking Horus off his shoulder, he allowed the bird to sit on a wooden chair next to the counter. :_Find good wand for you, yes. Need good wand. Strong. Gold maybe,_: Horus chirped merrily. Yuugi raised an eyebrow but said nothing. 

Mr. Ollivander took out a measuring tape with silver markings on it, and measured Yuugi from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit, and then around his head. Yuugi suddenly realized with wide eyes that the measuring tape was doing so of its own accord, and Mr. Ollivander began to flitter around the shelves, looking for boxes of wands. "That will do," he said, right in the middle of the tape measuring the space between Yuugi's nostrils, and it fell limp to the floor. 

"Now, try this one, Mr. Motou. Beach wood and dragon heartstring, eight inches. Flexible. Go on, wave it around a bit." 

Yuugi did so, and felt rather silly for a moment as the wand was nothing but a stick in his hand, when suddenly the entire room was filled with a brilliant flare of light. Horus squawked in indignation at the blinding glare. Yuugi squeaked and dropped what he had been holding, noting that when the light receded the wand he had previously been holding was now nothing but ashes on the floor. 

"Um," he gulped helplessly. "Was that supposed to happen?" He noted that Harry was gaping at him with an unhinged jaw, at a complete loss for what happened. 

Mr. Ollivander remained expressionless. "Indeed," he stated. 

He went to the back of the shelves and pulled out a rather long box of black cardboard. "Try this. Purple-heart and dragon heart string, sixteen inches. Powerful." 

Hesitantly, Yuugi grabbed the want from Mr. Ollivander's hand, even more frightened when he didn't even have a chance to wave it before it, too, exploded. 

-_I don't think our Shadow magick is mixing in well with their magic,_- Yami stated. -_This is never going to work._- It did make sense. The energies they used compared to the wizarding world were on an entirely different plane. It wasn't ever going to work. 

"Yes, indeed, what a strange case this is. Just a moment, young man. Perhaps there is something left for you." 

Yuugi looked over at Harry as the man left questioningly. "Does this happen often?" 

"Never." 

Yuugi swallowed the lump in his throat. He managed to keep Yami and the powers of the puzzle a secret thus far, he wasn't going to allow it to be ruined yet. 

"Yes, here we are," Mr. Ollivander stated, having returned. The box that he had was long, perhaps even longer than the one he had earlier. It wasn't black like the last one, or brown for that matter. It looked to be the same color as…Yuugi couldn't believe it. It was covered in papyrus. And he recognized…_no_. _Yami_ recognized what it said on the side. It was in hieroglyphs. _kkwy Atemu…_

__

Dark Atemu… Yami's true name as pharaoh. 

__

-It can't be, Yami almost pleaded. -_I never, **ever** had one. It's not possible, I—_

:_Hush_,: Yuugi soothed. : _It's possible that there was a **you** here in this dimension, five thousand years ago, that ruled. It would make sense that the you **here** would have one, as those that are most powerful have magic. It's another dimension entirely…_:

It was possible. But did that mean that there was another Yuugi here running around in Jepain? 

-_No,_- Yami declared. -_We still have contact here with the Shadow Realm, meaning that if I sealed it in my own time in our own dimension, then the Atemu of this dimension was never troubled with it, and thus his soul wasn't ripped apart in the sealing of the shadows._-

Yuugi's head began to spin with all of the thoughts about traveling through dimensions. 

Just how many different dimensions could the Shadow Realm be connected to that they _didn't_ know about? 

Mr. Ollivander opened the box up, and took out a wand that flashed with gold. "This is a very old wand, Mr. Motou. The last creation of the ancient Egyptian goldsmiths for wands. They were simply too powerful. A core of dragon heart string, rubies, and onyx. Dusted with silver, placed in electron, and coated heavily in gold. Seventeen inches. I doubt it'll do anything, though." 

__

Electron…Yuugi remembered hearing about that stuff. It was a metal that was a mixture of both gold and silver, prized by pharaoh's for many years. It made soft gold stronger, and kept beautiful silver from tarnishing. 

-_I had a chariot made of electron,_- Yami reflected. 

Yuugi took the wand hesitantly from Mr. Ollivander, feeling a warmth spread through his fingers. Swirls of light appeared on the gold surface, and Yuugi suddenly realized that magick hieroglyphs had been engraved into it, only noticeable when power was coursing through the wand. He waved it once and a shower of red and violet sparks shot from the end. 

"Well then, that's it," Mr. Ollivander stated in disbelief. "After all these years…wands have not been made in metal for many years, Mr. Motou. It is far too powerful. Far too strong. No one could ever hope to use one these days…but you. Oh, the power you must have floating around within you…" 

Misty eyes pierced Yuugi's body, and he began wishing that the man would at least blink. 

"Yes, thirteen galleons, Mr. Motou. Thank you now, good day to you." 

Yuugi and Harry were ushered out of there quickly. _Well, so much for staying inconspicuous._

Harry took his wand from out of his pocket. "Talk about making mine feel inferior." 

Yuugi flushed hotly. "Don't feel too bad. You probably won't see mine too often. I don't like to draw too much attention." 

Harry looked up at Yuugi's hair and raised an eyebrow. Yuugi sighed. "For the last time, I was born with it!" 

"Right," Harry stated, heading back to the leaky cauldron. 

~ * ~

*wipes forehead* Okay, _that_ took a while. Gomen ne minna-san for the delay. I've been _soooo_ busy. (But then again, haven't we all?) 

Any questions? Comments? Don't hesitate to email me, or even better, leave a review! 


	6. Hats and Surprises

Alias of Chaos

"_Wingad-yum lev-yosa!_" Yuugi waved his wand with a 'swish and flick', but nothing happened…again. "_Kuso_," he exclaimed. "Why can't I pronounce this right?!" He dug his fingers into his hair in frustration for the fifth time that night.

"_Kuso_," a woman next to him inquired, turning her head to look at him.

Yuugi was practicing some spells in the dining room of the house, angered at his inability to speak Latin and English based words. "It's Jepainese," Yuugi replied. "It basically means shit. We don't _have_ much of any 'r' pronunciations in my native language, which makes saying it so hard for me."

The woman nodded in comprehension. Yuugi was trying to remember what her name was. She had told him when he first met her, but it was so odd he didn't know if he could recall it.

She sneezed suddenly, her nose turning into a pig snout. Looking at her new nose cross-eyed, she rubbed it slowly, somehow molding it back to her old one. She sneezed again, and her hair turned pink. "Oh, excuse me, pumpkin, ol' Tonks has a bit of a cold."

"No problem," Yuugi shrugged. He decided to start glaring at the feather in front of him again.

Suddenly, Harry lifted his head from the table, beginning to snooze as he started to read a Transfiguration book for school. "Hey, I know a spell that might be pretty easy to pronounce."

Yuugi looked up skeptical. "Really? What?"

"_Lumos._ It puts a light at the tip of your wand. When you want it to be put out, just say _nox_."

Yuugi looked at his wand, hoping that if he glared at it hard enough, it just might obey him. "All right," he replied skeptically. He held his wand out in front of him. He took a deep breath, bracing himself. "_Lumos_."

Suddenly, a bright white light filled the gloomy dining room so brightly Harry cried out and covered his eyes. Yuugi covered his eyes, too, but could feel the foreign magic pulsing throughout the wand as he held it, the light never fading. _The spell is too strong…I have to tone it down somehow._

Yami helped to redirect his attention to the source of the magic flow, which was from none other than Yuugi's hand, and therefore his own body. It was like a psychic attempting to slow the flow of water from a crumbling dam; he concentrated on pulling the liquid tendrils of energy back into his self.

Finally, Yuugi was able to open his eyes again and noticed that there was a soft, innocent light at the end of his wand. "Never seen that before," Tonks replied.

"I'll say," Harry replied. "What did you do?"

Yuugi looked at his wand in contemplation. "I didn't realize the amount of power I was putting behind it. I was so angry with my earlier attempts, I put all of my thought into making it work.": _Yami, these wands simply seem to take magical abilities and helps to manifest them into the physical world. If these people worked hard enough, they might not even need the wands._:

The dark spirit gave a mental nod. : _I am beginning to get that impression, too. Words contain a great deal of power as well. It makes sense that words help to activate the flow of energies._:

Yuugi thought hard. If he could manipulate the magic for the simple little light spell, then surely he could manipulate that feather _without_ a wand, right? After all, it was worth a try. Suddenly he looked up, and noticed the black-haired teen giving him a funny look. _I seem to be making my own rules for magic._ "_Nox."_

The light vanished from the tip of the golden wand completely.

Tonks seemed to be looking at Yuugi contemplatively, but didn't say much of anything. Yuugi set his wand down, looked at the feather, and concocted a plan. Pointing his fingers down, palm facing up, he began to release some of that liquid energy he could see, just a little, and willed it to go underneath of the feather and up, just as if he were directing the muscles in his arm to lift an empty box. He grinned when the feather began to lift up into the air and rise higher. _Screw the wand and words, I'll just do all of my spells this way._

Harry's jaw dropped. Tonks looked stunned. Someone from the doorway had their eyes bugging out of their head, bewildered. "HOW IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING THAT??!!"

Yuugi lost his concentration, dropping his hold on the feather and allowing it to fall back to the table. "What," he asked confused.

The girl he had been briefly introduced to, Hermione, pounded into the dining room and looked him straight in the eye. "How can you do magic without the wand? I've tried for _eons_ and haven't been able to!"

Yuugi tried to hide the fact that he was trying to swallow the lump in his throat. He probably shouldn't have done that. "Surely other wizards can do some things without wands. It's not even that complicated of a spell…right?"

Tonks looked thoughtful as she starred skeptically back between Hermione and Yuugi. "I…suppose…but…"

"I made a glass wall disappear on my cousin Dudley," Harry responded. "And I've heard of little wizard toddlers bouncing after they fell out of a two story window."

Hermione looked like she didn't want to believe it, but she didn't say any more. Yuugi was thanking his lucky stars that Harry had spoken. If anything got out about him…he didn't want to think about the running he and Yami would have to do.

The brown-haired girl opened her mouth as if she were going to say something, but at that moment a man three sizes bigger than the average male walked in, his big brown trench coat looking particularly musty. "'Ello there, Harry. How's it go 'in?"

"Hello, Hagrid," Harry greeted, smiling up at the half giant.

"Sorry I cou'dn't meet ya at Diagon Alley terday, Harry. Had some important 'Ogwarts business to attend to earlier…'Ah, who's this?" Hagrid looked down at Yuugi at the table, grinning broadly underneath of his huge beard. "You mus' be Ugi!"

The young teen looked up at Hagrid with large eyes. _He looks like he could have jumped out of my deck of Duel Monsters._ "No, it's _Yuugi._"

The half giant nodded swiftly. "O 'course it is! How was yer shopp'n trip there, Ugi? It wen' well?"

"Yeah, I had a lot of fun." Yuugi forced a smile, not really sure what to do in an awkward situation like that, and decided to close up his book and head upstairs for bed. He was pretty sure that Hermione was looking at him with unsure feelings in her eyes, Tonks still didn't know what to make of him, and Harry was…well, he was Harry. Yuugi still wasn't sure what to make of him yet. "It's late," he said, "and I want to make sure my new bird hasn't wrecked havoc in my room. It was nice meeting you, Hagrid. I assume we'll see each other again?"

"Oh, you cin be sure o' that!" Hagrid laughed heartily, clapping Yuugi on the back again, knocking the wind out of him. The teen stood up and headed upstairs, glad to have all of the eyes off of him. Opening up his bedroom door, he stepped inside, threw his book on the desk, closed his door again and landed face first on his bed.

The mattress groaned slightly as more weight was added to it, his darker side sitting down next to him. : _Are you all right?_:

Yuugi wanted to scream and rip his hair out all at the same time. : _No! I hate being like this…trying to hide everything…I spend more time worrying and stressing than I do smiling anymore. I do not like who I've become. I'm so testy around everyone. I hate this…and I miss having you around physically._:

Yami stretched out next to his hikari, willing Yuugi to turn his head and look at him. A tug deep down told Yuugi of his wish, and he complied. : _We need to slow down, aibou. Take this one step at a time. I know that we want to know all of the information about this world that we can find, simply as a way to get home, but we have to think. We must do like a child does watching their adults. Observe the others around us. Do like they do. If we don't see them doing something, we won't do it either. Eventually, they will tell us all we need to know. Such as the information about Horus._:

Yuugi smiled just a little. : _I don't know what I'd do without you. You know that, don't you?_:

Yami smirked. : _And I exploit it every chance I get, too._:

Yuugi laughed, wrapping his arms around Yami. : _Goodnight, Yami. I love you._:

: _Goodnight, love._:

Harry stared at Hermione and Tonks after Hagrid had left, knowing what all of them were pondering.

"How did he do that," Hermione asked finally. "I've never seen a wand spell performed without a wand before! _How did he do it?_"

Tonks shook her head. "It just had to be a fluke. That's all. Nothing to worry about. It was probably just a product of his frustration at not being able to pronounce anything properly. We'll talk to Severus later. He'll know of a potion to cure that problem." She smiled up at Harry and Hermione. "You kids go and get some rest, won't you?" She stood up and left the dining room.

Harry shook his head. "I don't know Hermione. Maybe Ron's dad can tell us something in the morning. He's seen a lot working in the Ministry. He might know something." Harry knew that it was a poor idea, considering the amount of reading Hermione did, but hopefully it would be enough to placate her for the moment.

"We've got to find out who he is," Hermione stated. "There's something funny about him."

"Funny about who?" Harry and Hermione turned as Ron walked into the room, the pajamas he was wearing about three inches too short.

"That boy, Yuugi," Harry stated, and filled Ron in about what had just happened with the feather.

Ron got a surprised look on his face. "How the hell did he manage that?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Hermione stated.

"Perhaps we ought to tell Dumbledore," Ron suggested.

"Perhaps we should," Harry reiterated, beginning to think that might be a good idea, after all.

Yuugi let out a relieved sigh as he sat down in an empty compartment on the train, everyone else following suite. Horus squawked indignantly in the overhead storage. : _Don't like it up here…cramped…poor treatment! Very poor!_:

: _Oh, you spoiled bird! I'll give you an extra treat tonight when we get to the castle,: _Yuugi groaned back.

Horus ruffled his folded wings, but for the most part remained silent.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny all sat down, too. "How long of a train ride is it," Yuugi asked.

"We'll reach the Hogsmead station by nightfall," Hermione filled in. "Hogsmead is the only village left in the world that is populated by nothing by witches and wizards. It's very close to the castle."

"Oh, yeah!" Ron exclaimed. "I can't wait to get a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks. I think I'm having with-drawls."

"You take trips to Hogsmead?" Yuugi asked curiously.

"You have to be at least a third year to go," Hermione started, "and guardian permission to go. We're allowed to go on weekends after Halloween."

"Uh." Yuugi was curious about the legal guardian part. Who _was_ his legal guardian here? Or was Dumbledore keeping him a secret from the Ministry? After all, look where he found the spiky-haired teen. He probably wouldn't be allowed to go. He could already guess at the hazards that could happen if he went to the village. "There is one thing I've been curious about," Yuugi started again. "What can you tell me about these Houses at Hogwarts?"

"When did you here about them," Ron asked him curiously.

Yuugi opted not to explain his encounter at Madame Malkins. It didn't seem too terribly important; so he told about the research he did on his own afterwards. "I read about them in _Hogwarts, A History._"

Hermione smiled at him. Hmm. Maybe she liked books a lot.

"Well, you certainly don't want to be in Slytherin, no matter what happens," Ron spoke up. "There wasn't a dark witch or wizard that wasn't in Slytherin. They're cunning, and only out for themselves."

: _Malik,_: Yuugi and Yami mentally spoke at the same time.

"Ravenclaw's are really smart," Harry stated. "They've always been known for their intellect. They usually go one to be professors or inventors."

"Hufflepuff is known for their loyalty to friends," Ginny spoke up for the first time that afternoon. "They're really sweet people, but they get teased quite a bit."

Yuugi felt that he would have fit into that house just a few years ago.

"And last there's Gryffindor," Hermione spoke last. "That's the house we're all in. Gryffindor's are known for their bravery."

"It's the best House, too," Ron interjected. "That's the House that you want to be in."

"Hmm." Yuugi was fascinated by this method of sorting students. "What kind of competition goes on between the Houses," Yuugi asked. When teams were separated, there was _always_ competition.

Four people chuckled lowly. Yuugi raised an eyebrow in question. "Well, during the Quidditch matches, we always are competing to win the Quidditch cup," Harry started. Yuugi figured it must be some kind of wizard sport. Most schools had a sports team they enjoyed.

"And every House tries to earn points throughout the year. If you behave, you're awarded points, and if you misbehave, you lose points. If your House wins, you get the House Cup," Ginny finished.

"Makes sense," Yuugi stated. "Now, tell me about this Quidditch that was mentioned earlier."  
  
Ron and Harry acquired a wicked grin. "Oh, wait until you see it." Both sets of eyes gleamed.

The train jolted to a stop, jarring the occupants inside. Yuugi stood up, now wearing his new robes over his normal clothes. "Don't worry about your stuff," Harry filled him in, just as he was reaching for Horus. "Your stuff will be brought up to you by the time your House is called."  
  
"Called," Yuugi asked. "What do you mean?"  
  
Just as they entered the isle, a sea of students pushed them along, ushering them outside. Yuugi never did get his answer. Just as they left the confines of the train, a booming voice called above the boisterous crowd. "Firs' years! Firs' years this way!" Yuugi saw Hagrid holding up a large lamp in the darkness of the evening, calling first year students over towards him. "Ah! Ugi! Come 'ere! Dumbledore wants yeh ter come with me!"

Gods. Yuugi didn't know if he would ever get used to the slaughtering of his name. Instead, he shrugged, and headed off towards the massive man. It didn't take long for all of the ashen faced, frightened first years to get together, all of them heading off towards the lake. "Pair up," Hagrid roared. "Three ter a boat!"

Hagrid jumped into one boat, Yuugi close behind him. As the students began to pile into the boats, a straggler jumped into the boat with them, looking around with wide, frightened eyes.

Hagrid pushed off, setting them forward and motioning for everyone else to follow. The wind was whipping about gruffly, an icy chill that tried to bite harshly into the skin gnawing at their wool cloaks. The lake was as black as obsidian, secrets and peril waiting eerily below.

It was no more than fifteen minutes before they reached the other end, the boats creaking and groaning as they were pulled ashore. Yuugi could understand everyone's apprehension. This was a rather frightening experience for someone so young, with so little experience, to be introduced into a new school such as this. Quite frankly, he'd have been worried, too, had Yami not been with him.

: _I sure hope we know what we're doing,_: Yuugi commented dryly.

: _In our situation, aibou, that is highly doubtful. And truthfully, I'd be worried if we were more prepared, given our history of miraculously escaping life-threatening peril. :_

: _Always the optimist, :_ Yuugi replied glumly.

All of the students got out of the boats, following Hagrid as he walked up to the massive doors of the front entrance. The entire structure was very much that of an ancient gothic castle. Yuugi was in love. The school was magnificent.

Every child grew quiet when the front doors opened up, and out walked a woman that Yuugi had come to see quite a bit of at the Order of the Phoenix.

Professor McGonnagal.

"'Ere they are for ya," Hagrid announced. "All the firs' years."

The aging woman nodded her approval. She turned to them almost gravelly. "Welcome students to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is now that you will be separated into your Houses. While you're here, your House will be like your family. Good behavior will earn you and your House points. Any rule breaking and you and your House will lose points." It was here that she stopped and looked pointedly at all of the students. In other words, _don't act up, you'll regret it._ "Now, follow me."

Instantly, the front doors opened up, and she began to walk into the main hall, and then into the Great Hall, where all of the older students were seated and waiting for their meals.

Yuugi was not the only one surprised at what he saw. Yami's mental eyebrows had reached the ceiling. The night sky above them was gleaming with the constellations almost brighter than the night sky above. The candles floating above them were glorious, and cast such a warm glow about the room that nothing else could ever hope to compare. _I read about this in Hogwarts, A History. Never dreamed it could truly live up to so much bragging, _

McGonnagal stepped up to the front of the room where the faculty seating was, and stood next to a stool with a tattered and ratty looking witch's hat resting on top. The professor unrolled a parchment from her grasp, and read the first name on the list. "Araan, Ashley." A small girl with deep brown hair stepped up without so much as blinking, picked up the hat, sat down, and put it on her head.

Yuugi was quite surprised when the hat shouted out "RAVENCLAW!!!"

: _So that's how the sorting works,:_ Yami commented. Yuugi wondered what the hat was going to make of him and Yami.

A head of red hair caught his eye as 'Bethany, Alexa' was sent to Hufflepuff. It was, of course, none other than Ron Weasley, sitting next to both Harry and Hermione. They looked rather worried about something, but what Yuugi couldn't be sure. Unless they were worried about him becoming a Slytherin. That could not bode well for his personality and reliability. The teacher's would probably never trust him.

"Morgan, Mathew." A young boy with bright blonde hair walked up shakily, picked up the hat, and sat underneath of it. "GRYFFINDOR!!!!"

The respective table clapped enthusiastically, welcoming the new student to their table.

: _Sounds like we're up next,_ : Yuugi said to his darkness.

Yami sighed hard, knowing there was hardly anything they could do to prepare. He knew that this sorting was going to count for a lot more than just sleeping quarters for him and his aibou. He was positive that all of the professors that they had recently been talking to were going to gage his trustworthiness on the outcome of this sorting. Not to mention the students they had begun to be acquainted with. Harry seemed to like his aibou for some reason. Something happened in Harry's past that made him look at people differently, and it was perhaps through Harry that he would learn the information he needed to get him and Yuugi home safely.

If they were put in Gryffindor.

There was a lot riding on this sorting for him and Yuugi, too. Yuugi knew this, of course. One of the reasons he had been so edgy lately. It would be hard to lose a friend now, before they had even started to trust each other. Harry was, at the moment, the only safe tie they had to this realm.

It's a frightening thought to think that the whole of your world could possibly turn against you.

"Motou, Yuugi!"

Every head in the room turned. The name in itself was entirely foreign. Who could this possibly be?

Yuugi took a deep breath, striding confidently forward. _So judgement day has finally come._ He picked up the hat, sat down on the stool, and waited.

_How strange,_ a voice whispered next to his ear. _Two minds instilled into one body. Conflicts, and yet not. Old, and yet young. Royal, and yet poor. But both of you, oh my, yes both of you, minds to be challenged. Brilliance on both accounts. Books and people. Impressive. Very impressive. Strength. You've led armies before. Friendship, at times it was all you had. But your loyalty, so unfailing. And your cunning-_

_: Don't,:_ Yuugi warned the hat. _: Don't even. We've had our darker days, true. That can not be denied. But do not tell us that Slytherin is the right house for us. We are not arrogant, nor are we blind, nor do we care for naught but our own survival. Our cunning comes into play when we need to get loved ones out of the darkest parts of their nightmares and back out into the light of day. :_

_: It has always been for the good of all that we ever fight,: _Yami replied, too. _: And it's the balance that we have that holds my darker magicks at bay and under control. I would be lost without the one with me, and all that he has given me. Judge him, not me.: _

The hat seemed silent for a minute, and Yuugi registered the tension that was growing in the air. They had been on the stool for quite a while already, and there were still a lot of students to go.

_Very well,_ the hat conceded. _Brilliance can live in places other than Ravenclaw. And loyalty can live in other places than Hufflepuff. And cunning can be for brighter purposes. That only leaves one place for the both of you, so long as you stay as one. You'd best stay in _"GRYFFINDOR!!!!!!!"

The room lifted in uproar. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were clapping in what looked like relief. Yuugi took the hat off with a load-releasing sigh, stepped off the platform and joined the Gryffindor table. When he looked up, Dumbledore was beaming at him, his eyes twinkling behind his half-moon spectacles.

"Congratulations," Hermione stated. Yuugi hardly realized that he had sat down next to the entire group.

"Yeah," Ron stated. "You were up there so long , we were afraid that hat might have fallen asleep on you!"

"I'm just glad it's over," Yuugi replied. He started clapping with everyone else as 'Rosalin, Marie' was sent to Ravenclaw.

Shortly, the sorting was done, and everyone was seated. Yuugi was now looking at him empty plate, wondering who would be bringing the food in.

Professor Dumbeldore stood up, smiling at everyone. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. As the usual reminder, and new news for our first year students, the Black Forest is completely forbidden, so it is asked that you not leave school grounds. Also, we have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, please welcome Professor Isis Ishtar."

Yuugi almost chocked on his own tongue. Could it be the Isis of _this_ dimension? He took a close look at her. She had the same serious purple eyes. She had the same sleek black hair. And she-

It was the Isis from his own dimension. She was wearing the Tauk, like usual, but it had on it a ruby that Yami had affixed to it some time ago before giving it back to her. According to myth, the ruby helps one in trying to balance the energies in the body, and is female oriented. That was the reason that the natives of India believed that it should be worn on the left side of the body when worn as a ring. With her foretelling of the future, is was an invaluable gift. Yuugi would have rather seen her as a Divination teacher, but if this worked...

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were looking at Yuugi curiously. "Do you know her," Hermione asked.

"Yeah," Yuugi stated, still in shock. "An old family friend."

"Now for a few more words," Dumbeldore stated. "Wish, wash, wishy, and let's eat!" He clapped his hands, and the table was suddenly covered with food.

_No wonder people think of his as a crack pot. At least he has a sense of humor. _


	7. Ghosts and Pumpkin Juice

1**Alias of Chaos**

Yuugi could hardly sit still throughout his meal. His eyes, wether he willed them to or not, kept on moving back up towards the faculty table, gazing upon Isis's stoic face. She, so far, seemed unperturbed that another person from her own dimension was then right in front of her for no apparent reason.

Yuugi and Yami both knew better. Isis was very good at hiding her emotions.

This they knew all too well.

Ron and Harry didn't seem to notice his constant eye shift, but he noticed Hermione give him a fleeting questioning look before turning away again and striking up a conversation with the ghost next to her.

Wait, a ghost?

"Excuse me," Yuugi spoke up. Hermione and the ghost looked over to him. "Yes," they both asked simultaneously.

"You're a ghost?"

"I am indeed," the transparent man replied with dignity. "My name is Sir Nicholas, pleasure to meet you young man. I am the ghost of the Gryffindor House."

"Everyone calls him nearly headless Nick, though," Ron stated next to him with his mouth full of chicken.

"Nearly headless," Yuugi asked.

Hermione shook her head vigorously. "No, don't ask!"

Nick tilted his head down, pulled at his hair, and revealed the ghostly silver arteries in his severed neck. Yuugi winced. "I see." Nick plopped his head back in place with a sickening '_squish,' _and floated on down the table without another word.

"Wonder who we'll be doubled up with in potions this year," Harry mused out loud.

"Who else," Ron snapped. "It's almost _always _with Slytherin."

"Doubled," Yuugi asked. He hated all of the questions, but then again he also hated being left in the dark.

"Most classes are only taken with your house," Hermione elaborated. "But sometimes classes get doubled up with other houses. It usually happens in Potions and Care for Magical Creatures, and a couple more."

Yuugi tested the pumpkin juice, finding the taste rather delicious. "Makes sense. So...what do you guys know about most of the teachers? A couple of them I saw at the Orde- _owe!_" Yuugi glared at Ron next to him, rubbing his ribs that had just been elbowed harshly. "What?" He asked.

"Um..." Harry started. He looked around a little warily, and Yuugi got the impression they didn't want anyone to hear this conversation. "We don't talk much about that," he spoke quietly. "You mean...the ah...summer retreat?" He hoped that he was playing along with the right thing. He was only elbowed at the mention of the Order of the Phoenix.

Ron looked at him confusedly. "The what," he asked. Hermione glared at him. Something in his head seemed to click. "Oh, right, that...yeah, we don't."

"Hm." _:This is interesting. They don't want to talk about the Order in public. I wonder why that is:_

He could sense inside that Yami was heavily contemplating. :_Considering the events of our arrival, I am assuming that the person or group that found us is a secretive society. Very secret, perhaps. And if they deal with this Voldemort, who is supposedly pure evil, then they are a in a sense the 'good guys' acting under cover to find him and stop him. These children's parents, Ron's at least, are directly involved, and by default of children ears they hear and know about what's going on. How involved they are, I don't know. But I suppose that it does make sense.:_

Yuugi suddenly had a revelation. _:I know the way Isis works just as much as you do. I'll bet that she knows a lot more about this world than we do, and I'll bet that she even knew we were here, or coming here. In fact, she could have even found a confidant with the Headmaster Dumbledore or perhaps one of the other professors. We just might have more allies than we anticipated: _

:_Good news indeed, but let's make sure of that with Isis first, and make sure that it is the right Isis we are in fact talking to.:_

"Well then, anyway, after we're done with dinner we can go up to out rooms," Yuugi asked.

"Yes," Harry said, "but you have to have the password."

Yuugi sighed. This world was too complicated. "And what is the password, and where do I have to have it?"

"Heffalump," Hermione stated. "And you tell it to the Fat Lady. That's the portrait that hands over the Gryffindor common room entrance."

"I'm going to tell it to a picture?"

"Yup."

"What happens if I get it wrong?"

"The Fat Lady just refuses to let you in. If you keep it up, she'll scream until someone comes and makes you leave."

_Talking pictures. Fabulous._

"Heffalump," Harry asked suddenly. "Why that?"

"Dumbeldore saw the new Winnie the Pooh movie, and insisted it was used for at least a little while," Hermione replied. Hermione knew this, of course, because she made Head Girl that year.

Diner didn't not last for too much longer. People started getting up and wandering up to their rooms with full bellies and tired eyes. Yuugi kept waiting, even as the rest of the Gryffindor table left. He noticed, rather unsurprised, that Isis had yet to leave.

"Hey, Yuugi, are you coming?"

The teen was torn from his thought as he saw Ron, Harry, and Hermione were now standing and ready to leave. "No, you go on ahead, I'm going to ask Dumbledore something."

"All right," Harry said. "See you later."

"See you guys."

The three of them left, leaving Yuugi alone in the room with a few other teachers. He noticed as Isis got up, said her goodnights to the headmaster, and started to leave the dining hall. Yuugi followed her immediately, and saw, as he entered the rather dark corridor outside, she was heading to a darker, secluded corner. Yuugi followed her quickly.

"Isis," he whispered loudly.

She turned around and looked at him, her lavender eyes warming up. "Yuugi."

She knew him. Relief flooded his system. "Isis, you have no idea how much of a relief it is to see you. What's going on? I know why I'm here, but why are you here? Why is there so much secrecy with everyone? What's going to happen?"

She chuckled softly, holding her hand up defensively. "One question at a time, please. I've been trying to speculate just why I'm here, and the rest of us for that matter."

Yuugi felt Yami take over. "What do you meant the rest of us?"

Isis gave a small nod of her head in respect. "Pharaoh. Good to see you. What I mean is, all of the Sennen Items and their owners are here. Where are all of them? I don't know. Malik is at the Order right now. Shadi will show up here later. He'll be teaching an advanced Divination class. We believe, so far, that the items cannot exist alone in another dimension. When you were summoned here, Pharaoh, it pulled the rest of the Items and their owners here too. What the real question is 'how to we get home?'"

"You don't know where Bakura is?"

Her face fell sadly. "I'm afraid not."

Yami cursed in Egyptian.

"Yami, I suggest that you tell Dumbledore of your existence. He told me you and Yuugi have been stubborn lately at revealing yourself. I understand your caution, but you must believe me when I tell you that the future will not work out unless you have his understanding and support."

He sighed. "Only if you're sure, Isis. I'm wary to trust any here."

"I know. And Harry Potter has a longer history here than you know of. Talk to Dumbledore. He'll tell you. But you must see him tonight."

"And what of this 'Voldemort," character? What has happened to him?"

She blinked at him curiously. "You don't remember what you did to him?"

Yami looked at her levelly. "In my anger, the Shadows gained almost complete control."

Her faced paled significantly. "Dear Ra...if there's anything left of him, it'll be a miracle."

He nodded. "I wish I did know what I did to him. Yuugi remembers very little as well." He ran a hand through his hair. "At least this is some of an update. Thank you Isis. I'll go speak to Dumbledore now. I hope this turns out all right."

"Just so you know," Isis stated before he could turn around to leave. "Dumbledore is the one that found you and Yuugi in that cemetery just minutes after you destroyed your summoner."

"Yeah," Yuugi stated, now back in control. "I figured as much."

_xxx_

Yuugi stood, starring at the door to the Headmaster's office. He tapped his foot, waiting for Dumbledore to let him in. He was really tired, and would have liked to go to bed, but if Isis was so sure about revealing Yami to him, she was probably right about it.

The door opened, and Yuugi walked in. The room was circular, and there were pictures hanging all over the walls of previous headmasters. Yuugi chuckled a little as most of them were snoring away, and some of them reading a book.

"Welcome, Yuugi."

Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, dumping some sugar into his tea.

"Hello, Professor."

"So, I take it you know Isis quite well."

"Yes, we're old friends." He tilted his head to the side. "How much has she told you?"

"Enough, I suppose." He motioned to the chair in front of his desk. "Have a seat, won't you? Have some tea?"

"Yes, tea would be nice. Thank you." He sat down, still a little worried about how he was going to explain all of this.

"Professor, I'm not sure where I should begin..."

"Start at the beginning. And, when you get to the end, stop."

_Best advice I've ever heard,-_ Yami commented.

"Well, hm...that's a pretty long story. All right, for starters, I didn't just land in that cemetery by accident."

Wide, bushy eyebrows rose marginally. "That, as much, I had guessed."

"Hm, right. Well, anyway, as I'm sure you know, a spirit, no matter how powerful, is subject to being summoned."

"Oh, yes, quite. Shaman's attempt this all the time."

"Well, Voldemort had summoned me here."

"You?"

Yuugi rubbed his eyes. "Well, not me _specifically._ Just apart of me."

"Really?"

Yuugi closed his eyes, and the next time they opened, pure red dyed his once purple eyes. "_I_ was the one that was summoned," Yami spoke. "Most know me as 'Yami,' but my true name was Atemu."

"And you're not Yuugi?"

"No, I am different than Yuugi. I am, however, a part of him. I _was_ a Pharaoh from ancient Egypt. Where I came from, there was an evil that spread further and wider than any could control it. I was forced to seal it, in order to save the lives of millions, and to do so it caused my soul to be ripped in half. The darker half, my Ba, was sealed inside of this puzzle." He held up the Sennen puzzle for the Headmaster to see. "The other half went on to be reborn, and that is Yuugi. Yuugi found my puzzle, completed it, and thus released me. But, with releasing me, he also released all of the evil that I locked up thousands of years before. Here's where it gets a little strange, however..."

"Indeed," Dumbledore inquired.

"We're not from this dimension. I'm not the Atemu that scholars here know of."

"No?"

"From my guess, the Atemu _here_ dabbled in dimensional magick, and found records of my struggles with the Games. He must have left documentation of it, and that's what Voldemort found. Voldemort must have known that my power exceeded all other spirits, including the Atemu here, for my being became integrated into the Shadows, and gave me control over them. _That's_ why he summoned me. He wanted to bind me to him, however, to do his bidding, and it would thus have torn me away from Yuugi. I will not have that. Not now, not ever. I wish I _could_ remember what I did to him, but I'm afraid the Shadows were in control, and I can't. My memory, once again, is shrouded."

Dumbledore took a sip of his tea. "Is that all?"

Yami blinked. "Isn't that enough?"

"What about these shadows you speak of?"

Yami held out his hand, allowing a few wisps of Shadows to dance around in his palm. "The Shadow Realm is endless. I believe it is through the Shadow Realm that I will get home, but how at the moment I've yet to figure it out. These Shadows have the ability to crush souls and minds in a intance." He closed his palm, and the purple, black, and green energies died out in a puff.

"Interesting," Albus stated matter-of-fact-ly.

"Interesting," Yuugi stated, pushing his way to control. "My other half just spilled out life history, and all you have to say is 'interesting! We almost die, and all you have to say is 'interesting! We have the ability to destroy the populace of your entire school and it's only _interesting!_"

"Aibou, calm down!" Yami stated, his body pushed out and forced to take physical form in Yuugi's frustration. He grabbed hold around Yuugi's waist, holding him in place as the teen struggled to get across the Headmaster's desk.

Albus looked intrigued at the second third body in the room. "You can take your own physical form? Now _that_ is fascinating! Yuugi, do you have to keep extra pairs of socks because of that?"

"Oh..." Yuugi stated. "They're right! You _are_ a crackpot! Let me go, Yami, I'll show him how severe this situation is! We've got a bloodthirsty _killer_ and _thief_ on the loose, and everything is _fascinating,_ and _intriguing!_"

"Who's the killer and thief," Albus asked.

"Bakura," Yami stated. "Another spirit, like me, but he was a tomb raider. Ryou's probably scared senseless, and Bakura is highly unstable. We have to find them before they cause some real damage."

"And you haven't seen what Malik can do. At least he's stable at the moment. But Bakura! He doesn't _have_ a sister to lock him in his room when he's been misbehaving!" Yuugi roared on.

"Young master," Dumbledore stated gravely, "if things weren't in utter chaos, that is when I'd truly worry. Don't worry. We'll find your thief friend. Tea?" He held up the tea cup that Yuugi had yet to drink from.

After some more huffing and puffing, he finally cooled down, and downed the tea in one drink. "Who can we trust," he asked.

The Headmaster sat back down again, opening up one of his drawers and rummaging through it. "No one in Slytherin. I'd stay well away from the Malfoys. Keep your thoughts to yourself. Please, have a seat once more. Let me tell you a little bit about our history, and the story of The Boy Who Lived."

Yami sat down, and, since there was no other chair, Yuugi sat in his lap. Finally, some real answers.

_xxx_


	8. Tales and Trails

**Alias of Chaos**

Yuugi went back upstairs with his mind all abuzz with the story that the Headmaster had recited to him. Poor Harry. Yuugi had thought that his life was hard, but Harry Potter had a lot to live up to in this world. At least no one knew about Yuugi except by his duelist persona. He had a game to live up to. Harry had an image that had been carved out for him by the minds of nearly every wizard in the world. What _would_ happen if he screwed up? Who would have the courage to stop a mad, bloodthirsty killer? It seemed Voldemort had nothing that he held near and dear to him. At least Bakura could have some sense talked into him when Ryou's life was in true danger. Malik loved his sister and Rishid like there was no tomorrow. _A man who's lost everything has nothing to lose, and everything to gain._ A dangerous adversary indeed.

Perhaps he could even reveal to Harry who Yami was. Maybe even to Ron and Hermione too? Besides, Harry and Hermione had time traveled before, so one would have to conclude that they were smart and trustworthy.

All in all, Yuugi felt a bit refreshed after his visit. Tired and dazzled, yes, but still refreshed. At least the whole of the new universe they were in didn't feel so desolate and dangerous anymore.

-_Get some sleep, love. You're going to have to get up early tomorrow for classes._-

_:Oh, my, I almost forgot. I'm in school. Good gods, Yami, this is going to be the most hectic year I think we've ever had before. Ra and Osiris help us all.: _

Laughter rumbled in his head. His darkness agreed with completely and entirely.

Yuugi got to the top of the bottom and wound his way around the lengthy halls, finally finding, much to his own relief, the portrait of the Fat Lady that he had heard so much about. Yuugi stood there starring at her as she appeared to be sleeping. _Pictures that sleep? I can even hear her snore!_ Yuugi cleared his throat, and the woman woke up with a start.

"Ah!" she exclaimed. "Out a bit late, aren't we?"

"Um...sorry?" He asked. It felt odd to be apologizing to moving paint on a canvas.

"Password?"

"Heffalump."

"And so it is," she replied, and the portrait swung open to reveal a hole for Yuugi to crawl through. The common room was empty except for Harry and Hermione. He took a deep breath. There was, after all, no better time than the present.

"Where have you been?" Hermione asked. "Students aren't allowed out of their dormitories after hours."

"I had an appointment with Dumbledore." He walked over to a huge maroon chair stuffed to the point of bursting that was placed next to the fireplace and sank into it, welcoming the warmth of the glowing fire. He took a deep sigh, being able to allow his muscles to all go lax for the first time in days. "Well, I suppose you've both been a bit curious about me."

Harry and Hermione both looked at him, their curiosity now rising. "Well," Hermione started. "You are a bit...well..."

"Odd?" Yuugi finished. He chuckled. "Don't worry. I'm odd even where I come from."

"Then who are you?" Harry asked him.

"A good question. Something I'm still attempting to figure out."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's something like this. Have either of you ever consider the possibility of other dimensions?"

Harry looked a bit confused, but, as always, Hermione took a stab at answering his question. "Another dimension is an altered state of reality, different from the one that we are in. Spirits live on a different 'plane' or dimension than we do."

"Precisely," Yuugi replied. "Now, just take that a step further. I, as I am coming to realize, am from a different dimension. A 'parallel universe' if you will. I don't belong here."

"Then how did you get here?" Harry asked, thoroughly intrigued.

"A spirit, no matter how powerful, is subject to being summoned. This is extremely important to remember. Just because it's summoned, however, it does not mean that it can be controlled. In my world, three thousand years ago, there was an Egyptian pharaoh that sacrificed himself to stop a terrible evil from a dark dimension that we call 'the Shadow Realm.' In doing so, however, he split his soul in half. One half became locked inside of this." At this, Yuugi held up his puzzle. "The other half went on to be reborn. That other half is me."

Hermione's eyes looked as though they were going to bug out of her head. Harry too, looked extremely surprised. "Magic like that," Hermione started, "not only is it dangerous and powerful, but..."

"Highly unstable. Yes, I know. Trust me, I live in it every day. It was an accident, really. It wasn't supposed to happen like that. However, that's beside the point. The point is, that the other half of my spirit is still very much alive inside of my puzzle. Dimensions have duplicates as well. My past self _here_ dabbled in other dimensions, and found records of me and my darker self. Voldemort, your Dark Lord here, found those records, and summoned the other half of my spirit, hoping to control him, and bring destruction to the world."

"Voldemort summoned you?" Harry exclaimed. "So you did see him in that cemetery!"

"Yes," Yuugi conceded. "I wish I could remember what happened."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked. "Did he wipe out your memory?"

Yuugi chuckled. "No, he never had a chance. My darkness became angry. So angry, in fact, even he can't remember what he did."

The two students starred at Yuugi as though he had grown another head. "What do you mean?" Harry inquired.

Yuugi took a deep breath, stealing himself for what was to come. "I would like it, very much, if you two would meet my darkness, and the other half of my soul, Yami."

A brilliant flash of light bathed the common room in gold, and suddenly, standing next to Yuugi's chair, was an exact replica of him, aside from the fact that his skin was darker, and his eyes were a bloody red. The two sixth year's mouths dropped open.

"That's bloody brilliant!"

Every head in the room turned to see Ron standing on the steps, looking bewildered and dazzled.

"Ron!" Hermione cried out. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Pretty much the whole time. I forgot my bag down here, and I didn't want to interrupt you. But, wow, does he talk Yuugi? Can he do stuff for you, like your homework?"

"Yes, mortal, I can talk. And no, it is not my job to do homework. It is my job to keep danger at bay, and I am seriously considering feeding you to my pet dragons."

The color of Ron's face turned white as the blood drained from his cheeks. Yuugi merely laughed, however, knowing the threat was idle.

"Yami..." Hermione said to herself. "Yuugi, what does that mean?"

"Darkness. For he is my darker half."

"What was his real name?

"My real name as a pharaoh was Atemu."

"Hey, wait, I know that name," Ron spoke up. "We toured your palace on our family's trip to Egypt. Bill was always saying how much of a bugger you were, because your palace and tomb had more curses on it than any other place in Egypt!"

Yami chuckled. "That wasn't my palace, Ron. You have to remember, I'm not from this dimension. The Atemu of _this_ world was the bugger you're thinking of."

"Why can't you go home?" Harry asked suddenly.

Yuugi frowned hard. "We would, but we can't seem to figure out how to get back. Portals to other dimensions are complicated, tricky, dangerous, and unstable. Voldemort literally _pulled_ us through, we didn't simply walk in. We believe the way to get back is through the Shadow Realm, but we don't know for sure. It's too hard to tell."

Hermione's face suddenly brightened up. "If the pharaoh from here dabbled in dimensions, have you've said, I'm sure I can find something on him. I'll start looking in the library right away."

Yuugi sat up a bit straighter. "You'll help?"

"Anyone that's an enemy of Voldemort's is a friend of ours," Harry replied.

Yuugi smiled brightly. "I should also warn you," he began, "that there are more than me and Yami here from our dimension."

"Who else?" Hermione questioned.

"Isis, for starters."

"You mean the new D.A.D.A. Professor?"

"That's the one. She also has a brother here."

"Are there any others?"

Yami frowned hard. "I'm afraid so, and this one is not going to be easy to catch."

"I'll help," Harry offered. "Who are they? What are they like?"

"A thief, for starters," Yuugi said. "Not to mention he's killed a fair number of, as Ron has so called them, _buggers_ before."

"He's a killer?"

"Afraid so," Yami said, "but then again, I don't want to call myself a hypocrite by criticizing him."

The other three in the room tensed.

"We come from a dangerous world," Yuugi said. "Many want to kill us for our power. It's either die, or defend yourself."

"Surely there was another way?" Hermione exclaimed.

"Is there another way to eat? To breath? To laugh? I haven't found one yet. We do our best to open the eyes of our enemies, but, at times, there is nothing even the powers of Shadow can do."

"Why do you keep saying 'shadow?'" Harry asked him. "Isn't darkness bad?"

"No," Yami said. "Not all things that are dark are evil. Evil simply clings to darkness, because it is easiest for them to hold on to, but they always crave the light. Light and dark are a part of a balance, nothing more, and nothing less. It is not, and I repeat, _not_ evil."

"We have to find Bakura," Yuugi said to no one in particular. "I dread to find out what has happened if anyone went after Ryou."

"You and me both, aibou."

Yuugi woke up the next morning feeling as though a giant weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Now he could go down to breakfast and not have a guarded conversation with someone. After he got dressed he noticed that there were very few people in the common room. He knew that it wasn't late. Yuugi rarely slept in. In fact, he suddenly realized that he was much more of a morning person that most of the other people, at least in his House. He climbed through the portrait hole and headed down a flight of stairs, eager to get breakfast. He gazed at a lot of the portraits that were hanging on the walls, enjoying himself as he watched the characters go about their morning, or, in most cases, still sleeping. Suddenly, he felt his right foot fall out from underneath of him, and went tumbling down the stairs. He landed at the bottom with an ungraceful yelp, growling at whatever had happened.

"Better be careful next time," a voice next to him chided. Looking up, he saw that it was Nearly Headless Nick.

"What happened?"

"It's a false step. The stairways around here can get rather tricky."

Yuugi growled as he stood up, marched over to the main hall, and plopped himself in the chair he had been in the night before, elated to see food lined up on the table. He wasn't quite sure what much of it was, but at least it smelled good. He dished himself up.

He had nearly finished his meal when Hermione joined him at the table, her eyes looking at him in a funny was as she sat down. "I see you're up early."

"Sometimes I'm a bit of a morning person."

Hermione shook her head. "People like you are few and far between."

Yuugi laughed. "You don't know the half of it."

Hermione was already part way through her meal when Ron and Harry stumbled their way into the Main Hall, Ron looking a bit sleepy, but ravenously hungry nonetheless. They both sat down and dished themselves up healthy breakfast plates. "What classes are you taking this year," Ron asked Harry, downing some pumpkin juice.

"Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Herbology."

"Everything that's required to be an Auror," Hermione noted.

"What's an Auror?" Yuugi asked.

"A person that fights Death Eaters for the Ministry of Magic," Harry responded.

"And what's a Death Eater?"

"Someone who works for Voldemort."

Yuugi noticed Ron hiss at the name. "Is there something wrong?"

"We, ah, we don't speak his name," Ron replied.

Yuugi snorted, and felt Yami push to control. "What an absolutely ridiculous thing to do. Scum may not deserve a name, but they don't deserve the fear or reverence of never saying the one they have," Yami stated.

Hermione looked at him oddly. "You're eyes are red. Is it...you know...you?"

"Me as in Yami, yes. You may see me now and again." And with that, those blood red eyes sank back down to violet.

Before the conversation could continue, however, Professor McGonagall had walked over and started passing out papers. Yuugi figured that they were schedules. She stopped, however, once she got to him. "Mr. Motou," she started in her crisp voice, "here is your schedule. All of the instructors have been informed that you are to take an aptitude test before the start of class. I suggest that you get there early. However far behind you fall, you will spend part of the year catching up. Dumbledore seems confident that you will even exceed in some of these areas. Good luck, Motou. I'll see you in Transfiguration soon." With that, she trotted off.

Yuugi looked down at the piece of parchment, noticing the classes that were listed. "Ye Gods, they've got me doing everything. Those classes I can't make today I'll be doing tomorrow."

"Wow," Harry and Ron said together. "Make Snape's life hell for us, won't you?" Ron asked.

Yuugi chuckled, and allowed Yami to reply. "With glee."

Hermione shot him a quick glare. Apparently, she was the only voice of reason in the group.

Yuugi stood up, ready to head off to Transfiguration. _This ought to be interesting. Change one thing into another entirely. Wonder what on earth will happen..._


	9. Dreams and Screams

The classroom was empty and devoid of any life, save for the rigid woman sitting at her desk and writing something down. The feather of her quill pen fluttered with her quick, precise movement, the morning sunlight reflecting brilliant colors off of the peacock feather. Yuugi knocked before entering. "Professor McGonagall?"

"Good morning, Mr. Motou. Won't you come in?" She asked, not looking up from her work.

He walked in slowly, taking in every detail of the room. The blackboards were covered in what looked like physics formulas, equations battling with diagrams for attention. "May I ask where everyone is?" He inquired.

"This is my prep hour. Spectators are noisy and bothersome. This will be done much more quickly and painlessly without a babbling class to watch." She put her pen into her ink well, sat back, and folded her hands. "How much, precisely, do you know of transfiguration, Mr. Motou?"

Yuugi rubbed his hands together as he thought hard. "Well...I've never had much use for it. I usually just summon whatever I need, rather than transform what I have. But...I'll give it a go with whatever you throw at me."

McGonagall's harsh eyes looked at him sternly. "How do you mean, 'summon?'"

Yuugi bit his lip. Yami usually summoned things from the Shadow Realm. He decided to counter her question, and make it look silly, if he could. "How do most wizards summon things?" At this, he perked an eyebrow in question.

The professor didn't reply right away. "Very well, Mr. Motou." Mentally, he wiped away a bead of sweat. One bullet dodged! She took a plain, white ceramic goblet and set it on the table. "Turn this into a raven, if you would."

Yuugi felt his mind go numb. Make an inanimate object into a living creature? Not possible. Was she expecting it to be real? "You realize," Yuugi started, "that it won't be a real raven. It'll just be...I don't know how to say it...pretend. The magic will imitate, but it won't be real."

"Is this supposed to surprise me, Mr. Motou?"

He frowned. He supposed not. "All right." Raising his hands, he pulled on Shadow magic and wove it around the goblet, as if he were a seamstress at a loom, and concentrated on taking every molecule from the goblet and changing it into magic. Alter the pigment...expand on the shape...and string up the vocal chords so the magic could simulate the cry of a bird...

In a few moments, he was done. A gorgeous black raven sat on the instructor's desk, ruffling its feathers as it preened.

McGonagall wiped the shocked look off of her face quickly. "Well, I'd heard about the use of no wand from you before, Mr. Motou, but until now I was hard pressed to believe it. However, as much as I appreciate your ability, you are here to learn wizard magic. I expect you to use your wand whenever you can, do I make myself clear?"

Yuugi felt put out. Why the hell use a wand when it wasn't needed! "Fine," he muttered. "What's next?"

She slapped a huge hunk of marble on the desk. "Transfigure this into a cup of wine."

Yuugi pulled out the wand. The gold glimmered in the sunlight, shining eerily with a life of its own. _This wand really makes me nervous._ He concentrated again, and this time added a 'swish and flick' with the wand.

There was a puff of smoke and a spark of electricity, and after the swirling gray gas disappeared it left behind a wine glass. The color of the marble still decorated the outside of it, and inside a dark brown liquid sat still and smelly. "A partial transfiguration, with ale instead of wine. Good try, Motou. You're right about where the fifth years should be. I have a feeling you'll catch up quickly. You'll have classes with me every morning second period. Thank you, and I suggest you hurry on to your next class."

Well...that was quick, and in reality rather painless. Yuugi knew she could have made it a lot worse than she did.

Walking out of the classroom, he pulled the schedule sheet out of the pocket of his robe, and looked down at it. Charms..._this ought to be easy..._

_xxx_

Yuugi collapsed on the couch in the common room, his arms exhausted from carrying too many books. Some of the teachers had decided to weigh him down with more references than he felt he truly needed. Some were amazed at his abilities- potions had gone so well Yuugi was certain Severus nearly smiled at him. After getting past the creepy factor, Yuugi could concentrate on Herbology and Divination.

He was tired, and Yami, who had been listening and observing and helping him all day, and finally started snoring in the back of his mind. Now Yuugi couldn't get the vibrations to cease within his skull. "Uuugh," he groaned.

"Tired?" Harry asked him, working on a paper for one of his classes at a table.

Yuugi put his hands to his temples. "I'm exhausted, and now Yami won't quit snoring."

Hermione did her best to hold back her giggle. She didn't do very well.

Getting up without great effort, Yuugi trudged upstairs. "I'm going to bed. I'll see you guys in the morning."

"'Night," they all replied.

The room was dark, as most people were still downstairs. The evening wasn't really that late, but he was tired. He wanted to make sure he got enough sleep for the next day.

At least he didn't have any homework tonight. He would tomorrow, as some of the classes he went to would actually be the 'first' day of class. There were only a couple more that he'd have to test first to see where he was in skill level. Yuugi was positive that he didn't want to take arithmancy, but it was Yami's favorite subject. So long as the spirit would do the homework, Yuugi would take it. He was definently going to take Care for Magical Creatures, and Transfiguration he was already signed up for. Potions would be easy, Charms was...well...charming, and he was required to take Defense Against the Dark Arts. The History of Magic class would be done as a kind of 'self-driven' class, as he wouldn't be showing up for lectures, since he didn't have the time. It was required, though, so he would be given the assignments from the teacher, and turn them in as soon as he got them done. Herbology and Divination were out of the question. He just didn't have the time.

:_Yami...are you awake at all: _

_:Yes, love, a little. What's wrong: _

Yuugi sighed, pulling the curtains closed around his bed. :_I love you.:_ He laid down, burying his head in his pillows.

The bed groaned as the spirit solidified next to him. Yuugi felt arms wrap around him warmly. :_I miss you.: _

_:I know, Yuugi. I'm still trying to find a way to get us home. I think...: _

Yuugi rolled over, gazing into those endless ruby eyes. :_You think what: _

He sighed a little, rubbing his nose against Yuugi's. :_I think the Duel Monsters know how to get us home. I just need to figure out a way to communicate with them properly to do so.: _

Elation filled his heart. :_Oh, I certainly hope so! When did you realize this: _

:_The Dark Magician came and found me during our lunch break. He seemed like he'd been looking for us. Don't worry, love, I'll get us home. Just be patient.: _

Yuugi kissed his darkness deeply. :_As long as you're with me, I have all the patience I need.: _With that, Yami started to fade away again. Yuugi felt a little helpless, not wanting to lose the spirit's touch so quickly. :_Please:_ He cried. :_Stay with me a little longer.: _He held on to Yami's waist tightly.

His resolve faded. :_All right, aibou. I'll make myself invisible to others who might see me, and I'll stay with you.:_ He just hoped that there wasn't anyone that could see past his cloaking device.

Yuugi smiled as Yami slipped underneath of the covers with him. :_Thank you.: _

Yami kissed him again, holding him close. :_I love you._:

_xxx_

The days passed into weeks, and weeks into a month, and then two. Halloween was coming around again, and so was the time to visit Hogsmead.

Yuugi stood in front of Professor McGonagall, his stance stiff as he summoned up with will to argue with her. He knew he would have to argue, too, for he knew her temperament by now all too well. "Professor McGonagall?" He asked her.

She looked up from her desk. It was after class, and she had expected everyone to be gone by now. "Can I help you, Mr. Motou?"

"I would like to go to Hogsmeade when the other students are allowed to."

"No, Mr. Motou. That is out of the question. You are hiding right now from the Ministry of Magic. Not to mention the fact that you have no signature from a guardian stating that you can go."

"And who's my guardian?"

"Hogwarts faculty."

Yuugi was getting annoyed. "Surely you've been told of the thief from my world that is on the loose."

"Yes," was her curt reply. "All the more reason to keep you here."

Yuugi felt Yami pushing for control, and gave it to him. "_Stupid woman_," he spat. "_I _am the only one that stupid tomb raider hasn't been able to defeat, and my hikari is the only one that will be able to reason with Ryou. We need this opportunity to go looking for him."

Yuugi couldn't remember if McGonagall knew about Yami or not, but she was sure to found out now. Speaking of which...the professor's face was colored with rage. "How dare you speak to me that way, Motou."

"I'm not Yuugi, Professor. I'm Yami, his darkness."

Minerva looked at those deep red eyes hard. "Dumbledore told me about you. You'd better listen well. I don't care how old you are, you have no right to speak to me that way."

"And you have no right to keep me here when I can be doing something useful out there."

"No. You must stay here."

Yami snorted. "Hn. Not likely. Just try to stop me. See if you can. I will warn you now: we are going to Hogsmead. We are going to find Bakura. If you don't let this happen, I promise you now, more than Hogsmead is going to suffer a brutal death. Bakura is not to be trusted right now. Only Ra himself knows what he's up to, and whatever it is, it's not pretty."

McGonagall started writing down some more notes. "Stop overdramatizing, spirit. This is nonsense."

Irate anger. That's what he felt at the moment. "Fine, Professor. Have it your way." At this, he lifted his open palm in her direction. "Why don't you take a look at my hikari's memory? You might find this information will sway your opinion."

_The night was dark, the moon barely a sliver in the void of the sky. The air was thick with screams. The sounds shivered up and down his spine, the pain of the victims nearly tangible. Yuugi ran down the alley as quickly as he could. Ryou warned him something like this would happen. How could he have let it slide like this? Why hadn't he done something sooner? _

_He knew he was close when his feet ran alongside bloody footprints. The smell of the red liquid rank of copper and left a foul taste on his tongue. He stopped short when he saw the person pinned against a wall, a shadowy figure holding him up and laughing insanely. "Baura!" Yami shouted. "Let them go!" _

_The head of the figure turned, a lock of hair falling into the glow of the street light. It shimmered with white, a dilated ice blue eye regarding him passively. The man laughed. "Shut up, pr-Aa wxA." He laughed at his own insult. "Can't you see I'm playing a game? Surely you can appreciate that." _

"_He's nearly dead," Yami barked. "Stop torturing him and let him go!" _

_Bakura just kept laughing, plunging his fist deeper inside of the man's stomach. The screaming turned into a loud gurgle. _

_**No!** Yami felt Yuugi pull away from him, separating into his own body. He ran off into the shadows of the alley, far into a space that he hadn't noticed before. "Ryou!" Yuugi cried. "Are you all right?" _

"_Don't you touch him!" Bakura spat, throwing shadow energy his way. _

_Yami's apprehension turned to anger, and he called the energies back to himself. The Shadow Realm obeyed him, after all, above all others. "Damn it, thief!" Losing his patience, he drew a card out of his deck holster and threw it in the white haired man's direction. Bakura shouted out in anger when a shadow spell threw him against the opposite wall and locked him in place, the chains icy and hard. _

_Yuugi was picking up Ryou who was still coughing on the ground. "What happened?" He asked. "Yami and I felt shadows suddenly fill up half of the city! Hundreds of people could have been hurt!" _

_Ryou had blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. He glanced at his darkness that was struggling against his constraints. "That man...he was going to..." he stopped, coughing again. There were bruise marks all over his neck, revealing signs of strangulation. "To rape me," he gasped out. "Bakura went mad. More so than usual, at least..." Yuugi helped him up, walked him towards Yami, and presented him to Bakura, who was still fighting against the chains and screaming profanities and death threats. _

"_Do you see this?" Yuugi yelled. "Do you see what's happened to him? You're playing in someone's blood and your host is lying on the ground in pain!" _

_Bakura snarled, enlarged canines looking menacing. "Get your hands off of him! He's **mine!**" _

"_Someone had to help him up! You were ignoring him!" _

"_No!" he argued. "I was saving him! He's mine! I always save him!" _

"_Yami...please..." Ryou gasped. His throat felt like it was on fire. "Stop..." _

_Those icy eyes looked down at the pathetic form, and suddenly his struggling ceased. "Why didn't you tell me to stop?" he asked, confusing and shock slowly attempting to color his words. _

_Ryou shook his head. "Couldn't...couldn't get through...your thoughts so...crazed...you couldn't hear me..." he started coughing again. _

_Yami removed the chains with the flick of his wrist, and Bakura tumbled to the ground. Yuugi stepped away as he ran to embrace his lighter half. Ryou just shook his head, tapping on the ring hanging around his neck. "Back inside," he pleaded. _

_Bakura bowed his head, but complied. He vanished into thin air. Yami returned to Yuugi's body as well. Somehow, they had to find a way to calm the spirit's warped mind, or the next time Ryou was threatened, an entire city just might go up in shadows..._

Yami stepped away, watching as the glazed expression left the professor's eyes, only to be replaced with shock. "Now do you understand?" he asked her. "We have to find him, and we're the only ones that can. We're the only ones with magic strong enough to counter him." He thought for a moment. "And the only ones stable enough," he added, thinking of Malik.

"I've never seen magic like that before," she commented. "What was it?"

Yami had no intention of letting her know. "It's mine. Now, will you let us go? Or are we going to have to force ourselves through?"

"I...will have to talk with Dumbledore, but I'm sure there won't be any problem in letting you go."

Yuugi felt himself pushed back into control. McGonagall watched as his eyes went back to their normal violet. "Good. I'm glad to hear it." And with that, he left.

_xxx_

"You got McGonagall to let you go?" Ron asked bewildered.

"Yep," Yuugi responded. "You just have to know how to talk to her."

"Spill," Harry said. "Whatever method you've found to get sense into McGonagall, spill! We've been trying for _years_ to get her to listen!"

"I think it was something shady," Hermione said. "McGonagall has never been one for rash decisions. Why on earth would she let you go? It's too dangerous!"

"Worry wort," Yuugi replied, taking a bit of the chicken from his plate. Dinner was probably his favorite time of day. "We'll be fine. We know how to take care of ourselves."

"I still don't know if I'll ever get used to you always referring to yourself as 'we'," Ron stated. "It's just weird."

"Yeah, our friends back home would always say that, too," Yuugi replied. He finally decided that he was full. "Well, I'm done. I'll see you guys back upstairs, if you're still going to eat."

"Yeah, okay, see you," Harry said, grabbing some pudding since the table had now been replaced with dessert.

He got up and walked out of the Grand Hall. He had a lot of homework to get to, and really wanted to get a head start before the rest of the House decided to take up residence in their favorite chairs in the common room.

Just as he was about to set foot of the first stair, a voice behind him called his attention back. "Well, if it isn't the little orphan boy from Madame Milken's. Haven't seen much of you around this year, shrimp."

Yuugi felt the vein above his left eye twitch with annoyance. If there was one thing he hated more than anything else, it was bullies. He turned around, allowing Yami to take over. "Is there anything I can help you with?" the Pharaoh asked annoyed.

Draco's goons Crabb and Goyle cracked their knuckles behind him. "I see you've befriended the freaks."

Yami shook his head. "I don't have time for this. I've got arithmancy to do. Have a pleasant evening." He turned around to walk back upstairs.

"Coward!" Malfoy taunted.

Coward indeed. Yami grinned when a stroke of genius hit him. "All right, fine, I'll bite." He turned back around, leaning nonchalantly against the railing of the stairs. He grinned ferally. "What do you say we play a little game?"

Malfoy grinned maliciously. He got the response he was looking for. "Games are for children."

Yami licked his canines. He really, _really_ wanted a good game right now. "These are the rules. The first one to scream is the loser. If I win, I am allowed to deal you a penalty game. Everything clear?"

Draco laughed. "Crystal." This was going to be too easy!

Yami grinned seductively. "Good." He could feel his heart pound with happiness and excitement as he allowed the Shadows to creep into the corners, crawl across the floor, and stretch out over the ceiling. "Here is your first test," he said.

Draco's eyes became wide when he saw just how dark it was becoming. No, it was just a spell to scare him. He laughed. "You think a little darkness is going to scare me?"

Yami chuckled richly. "Oh, no, it's not the darkness you should be worried about."

Crabb and Goyle watched as a purple ball of fluff pounced its way up to Draco. The blonde boy laughed, nudging at the Kuriboh with his foot. "Is _this_ supposed to scare me?" He picked it up and looked at it, laughing.

"Things are not always as they appear," Yami spoke.

Suddenly, the Kuriboh narrowed its wide green eyes, then opened up a mouth it didn't appear to have at first. A huge mouth riddled with large, jagged teeth hissed at him. Draco gasped, dropping the duel monster and kicking it away.

Yami frowned, kneeled, then picked up the quivering purple mass as it rolled up to his feet. "Oh, that wasn't very nice at all." He stood up, running his hand over the monster as he pet it. "My pets are now angry at you."

Malfoy hadn't noticed until now just how thick the darkness around them was. He froze with terror when something red and shiny slithered out in front of Yami and wrapped itself around him. It looked like...it couldn't be...

Massive jaws, one set stacked upon the other, opened wide, long and sharp and bright. The dragon crouched by its owner, poised to strike. Osiris the Sky God roared at him loudly, licking at its long teeth.

Malfoy screamed.


	10. Buddies and Beer

1 Yami's laughter continued to echo through Yuugi's brain all through breakfast the next day. The look of sheer terror on the blonde boy's face had been priceless, and Yuugi had fallen asleep with a smile on his face.

Draco was fine, of course, with very little harm done to him. Yuugi had to admit, albeit begrudgingly, that perhaps it was a _little_ harsh what they had done. The Malfoy son was a blubbering mass of hysterics and drool in the healing ward at the moment. He kept going on and on about _teeth big large teeth shining and mean want to eat me I didn't do it I didn't do it leave me alone it wasn't my fault it wants to eat me I'm going to die..._ Yami was laughing so hard his metaphysical body felt like it was going to bust a gut. Draco would be back to his bullying self in less than a couple days and, for some strange reason, not remember what happened to him but always believe that the sight of Yuugi equaled mass amounts of treasure.

And of course, by nature of living in a castle bursting at the seems with curious students, the rumors were already flying. After all, everyone was going to Hogsmeade that day, and Draco was strangely absent.

Harry noticed, just barely, the slight feral grin that was on Yuugi's face as he came down to breakfast that morning. Colin Creevy was heavy on the dramatics as he explained one of the versions of the rumor to his captive audience. "I'm telling you," he was saying, "people are saying there's this giant dragon on the loose in the school! It's intent on eating us all! Draco's goons keep going on and on about it! It was all red and shiny, and it tried to eat Draco whole!"

"What stopped it?" A girl next to him asked, clearly caught up in the story.

"No one knows," he said ominously.

Yuugi nearly broke up in a fit of giggles. He had to hide his face behind his hands and try to not lose the bite of oatmeal he'd just eaten.

Harry looked at Yuugi dubiously. "You know something," he stated in a whisper.

Yuugi's shoulders shook with his effort to restrain the laughter. He cleared his throat and waved his hand, dismissing the matter. "Later," he said.

Ron and Hermione joined the table a few moments later, Hermione with a big book in her hands. The spine said, in a very dulled gold leaf, _Creatures of the Cold Blooded Kind, a Safety Resource._ "Doing some research?" Yuugi asked, waggling his eyebrows.

"I've never heard of a dragon that had red, shiny scales. I want to know just what it is they think they're talking about."

:_Try armored scales at that,_: Yami added.

"Serves him right," Ron stated, shoving a bite of blueberry muffin in his mouth. "Al-ays pick'n on peoffle," he muttered, his mouth full of dough.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Hermione said, sounding very much like a mother.

"What happened to him?" Harry pressed again.

Yuugi once again waved the question away. "I'll tell you guys later," he said.

Hermione's head snapped up. "You didn't...!"

Yuugi tried so hard not to laugh. "It's not really that bad. He'll be fine."

Her face flushed. "You...! You're as bad as these two blockheads!" At this, she pointed to Ron and Harry. "After all this time! You'd think men would learn-! Gah!" She closed her book shut, grabbed a muffin, and huffed out of the great hall.

Ron ate another piece of food. "She'll get over it," he said breezily.

Yuugi finished his breakfast in relatively good spirits and left the grand hall too, ready to go back upstairs and prepare to leave for Hogsmeade.

"Yuugi."

He stopped just as he was about to place a foot on the first step. That mystery clouded voice boded a headache, he was sure. He turned around and saw the guarded eyes of Isis looking stoically back at him. "Yes Isis?"

"You know as well as I do that the wizards of the this world would never, ever be able to trace or feel shadow magic, for the sheer fact of its nature."

"Yes."

"But you also know that those who use shadow magic can."

"Yes..." Yuugi didn't think he liked what she was getting at.

"You and the Pharaoh must be careful with your use of it here."

Yuugi sighed and allowed Yami to have control. He was much better at dealing with Isis than he was. "Isis," his deep voice began, "I know how to keep my powers in control. I also know that the nuisance of Mr. Malfoy would have been a terrible distraction to our studies here. He is unharmed, but he will not bother us again." He starred levelly back at her. Back in Japan, she had most certainly _not_ been his superior, and he intended to let her know that his powers were as strong as ever.

Her eye twitched. He knew she was direly annoyed that she could do nothing to get him to see her reason. "Very well, Sire."

"Have a good day," Yami replied, turned, and walked up the stairs. It was nice to know that Isis wasn't going to outright _try_ to tell him what to do, but the thought of observant eyes over his shoulder was a nuisance just the same. :_Cheer up,_: Yuugi said. :_At least we get to try one of those infamous butter beers in the village._:

:_They better be as good as everyone boasts, otherwise I'm gonna go to the city for some sushi, no matter what anyone says._:

Yuugi laughed in his head. Sounded like Yami was missing Japanese life, too.

_x x x_

The roads in Hogsmeade were muddy with the fall rain and mist. Witches in pointy hats and wizards in musty robes scurried by on their errands. Yuugi looked up curiously at the Three Broomsticks, knowing as soon as he set eyes upon it that Bakura would steer very clear of that little place. It was packed full of students. His eyes wandered down the road to a slightly shadier looking establishment. He decided to try his luck there. The moment he opened the creaky wooden door Yami took over. The shadows did well to make his rather small form intimidating just the same.

Something brushed up against his shadows as if in reply. _This is certainly easier than I thought it would be_, Yami thought to himself. Perhaps there was a fate up there that felt pity on him after all.

Finally his eyes saw what his senses already felt. There was a cloaked figure slouched over a table, the very picture of a brooding murderer. Yami went over without so much as a scape of his boots on the rough wooden floor and sat down in a chair opposite the cloaked figure. The man had a dagger, and was currently carving something into the wood of the table. "Hello Bakura."

The man snarled venomously. "Pharaoh no Baka." A glimmer of small fangs shone inside of the shadow of the hood. "Go away."

"Oh, Bakura, I'm touched you missed me so much."

Bakura growled. His frame shook a little with anger. "Go...away..." he ground out.

"Do you even have any idea where you are?"

Bakura dug deeper into the table with his dagger.

:_Let me talk to him,_: Yuugi urged. Yami relinquished control to his hikari.

"Hello Bakura," he said. For some reason, Bakura seemed to tolerate Yuugi better than Yami.

"Hello, Hikari no baka."

"What have you found out about this world?"

"That it's a hell hole," he spat. "This stupid nameless dark wizard trying to kill all, no ulterior motives but death..._bakamono_...whole world scared shitless to spill one ounce of information about it all, a stupid division between this stupid 'wizard world' and the _ever_ infamous 'muggle world.' Fucking idiots running loose. That's what. And the shadows, oh the shadows! They're here, but they're not! My deck is one confused, jumped mess!" A crack spread down the surface of the table. He was nearly attacking it now.

"How's Ryou?" Yuugi asked, unaffected by Bakura's outburst.

Bakura's eyes grew large and menacing. He looked like he was about to bite Yuugi's head clean off his shoulders.

At the last moment, his shoulders drooped. "He's scared out of his mind," he said, deflated.

"Bakura, let me speak to him."

Bakura snarled, but before he could retort the blue of his eyes faded into a chocolate brown. "Yuugi?" he asked desperately.

"Ryou? Are you okay? What have you two been up to?"

Ryou shuttered. "Dark alleys and rusty blades, that's what. Bakura's past tendencies resurfaced a hundred fold when we were dropped into this strange place. What's going on?"

Yuugi extended his hand. "Come with me. Yami and I know the people running this world. There is a place that you can stay. Isis, and Shadi, and Malik are all here."

His face perked up a bit. "Really?"

Yuugi nodded. "Come with me, and we'll tell you everything." Yuugi suddenly remembered something of vital importance. "Ne, Ryou, did you ever end up giving the Eye back to Pegasus?"

Ryou chortled out a bitter laugh. "Are you kidding? Bakura still thinks he has a chance of ruling the world. He'd never give it up."

Yuugi giggled despite himself. "Figures." He stood up. "Come on, I've heard of these things called butter beers. You sound like you could use one. And where Yami and I have been staying, there's more food than you could ever hope to eat."

As if on cue, Ryou's stomach growled. "Oh, I sure could go for some food." Yuugi frowned, and wondered how long it had been since Ryou had a decent meal.

_x x x_

Three pairs of eyes stared at Ryou curiously. So far, they'd been told about his other, but they hadn't had the pleasure of meeting him yet. Hopefully, they never world. "Another one?" Hermione said.

"Yep," Yuugi stated.

"That can also summon dragons?"

"Eh...yeah," Ryou said, unsure of how to explain his situation.

Silence prevailed for a moment, before one male voice cried out "WICKED!" Everyone turned to stare at Ron, unable to think of the most appropriate thing to say. All Hermione could do was sigh.

"This is going to be a long night, isn't it?" Ryou asked. Yuugi just gave him a feeble grin.


End file.
